St. Louis University High School
Saint Louis University High School (SLUH), a Jesuit Catholic high school for boys, was founded in 1818. It is the oldest secondary educational institution in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River, and is one of the largest private high schools in Missouri.
SLUH was founded in 1818 as St. Louis Academy. It quickly grew to include a college division, and the college was granted university status in 1832. The high school retained the identity of St. Louis Academy on the university campus until 1924 when it moved to its own facilities and incorporated separately under the name of St. Louis University High School. The school's new home, on Oakland Avenue, was a gift of Mrs. Anna Backer in memory of her late husband and alumnus George Backer. That facility, also known as Backer Memorial, has grown considerably over the years and remains the school's home. SLUH has been able to thrive in its city location while many other private high schools have followed the population to the western suburbs.
SLUH is known for academic excellence, as recent test scores attest. In the school's class of 2006, four members attained the top score of 36 on the ACT Assessment, the most widely-accepted college entrance exam in the country. Nationwide, fewer than 300 students per year attain this score (out of over 2 million tests administered), so having four from one class at one school is very rare. According to the figures released in SLUH's 2005 annual report, the average ACT score for students is over 29 and SAT over 1300. Virtually all graduates immediately enter colleges and universities. Students participate in many extracurriculars ranging from a superior theater department to sports to Missouri's only weekly high school newspaper, the Prep News.
In 2005 SLUH hired the first lay president, David Laughlin, in its history.
Activities
Some of the most popular student organizations are: Community Service Program (CSP), which sends students to sites across the area to work with the poor, disabled and aged; the Sisyphus literary magazine, offered twice a year in February and April; Student Council, which chairs the seniors-only "Blue Crew" cheering section at games; the Eating Club, which travels to area restaurants on half-days and also serves nachos during Activity Period; and Intramurals, which runs all year and includes events such as Music Trivia, Film Making; and "bashball", a sport popular among students at SLUH.
The school is also noted for the Senior Service Project (or Senior Project). Seniors are given three weeks away from their studies at the start ofthe Spring semester and work full time on a service project with a not-for-profit agency. SLUH is one of the few schools that provides time away from studies for this type of activity, which the school sees as critical to its Jesuit mission of educating "men for others".
Sports and rivalries
SLUH's athletic teams are known as the Junior Billikens, or Jr. Bills. They are usually very competitive in the Metro Catholic Conference and are the holders of the All Sports Trophy for that conference. The school's teams have won Missouri state titles in football (1970), cross country ('61 and '99), soccer ('71, '91 and 2003), basketball (4 times in the 1950s, most notably beating Bill Bradley and his Cape Giradeau Central team in '60), tennis ('70), water polo (7 times, most recently 2005), and volleyball (twice, most recently in 2003). They have also won the national racquetball title three times, most recently in 2004.
Its biggest rivals in athletics are two other Catholic boys schools, De Smet Jesuit High School and Christian Brothers College High School (CBC). De Smet and SLUH's hockey teams square off anually in the Jesuit Cup, currently held by the De Smet Spartans (won in 2004 with a 2-0 win and retained in '05 by virtue of a 4-4 tie). CBC, however, is SLUH's most historical rival. For years the schools were located about five miles apart along Oakland Avenue/Clayton Road. The intensity of the rivalry was showcased for years by their annual football game being held at Busch Stadium rather than on either school's home field. CBC's move to a campus in west St. Louis County has somewhat diminished the rivalry in football in recent years. The soccer rivalry is as heated as ever, with the 2003 district playoff being attended by over 6,000 people.
Notable alumni
- Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, son of Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, pictured on the U.S. One Dollar Coin.
- Dr. Thomas Anthony Dooley, humanitarian, Congressional Medal of Honor awardee
- James Gunn, filmmaker and screenwriter
- Sean Gunn, actor
- E. Michael Harrington, Harvard professor and author of The Other America
- George Hickenlooper[1], award-winning filmmaker
- Robert Hyland, ground-breaking radio executive at KMOX who created the "talk radio" format
- Henry Jones, former All-Pro defensive back for the Buffalo Bills
- Ken Kwapis, film and TV director
- Ed Macauley, professional basketball player and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
- Mel Price, former U.S. Congressmen from southern Illinois
- Taylor Twellman[2], MLS player, New England Revolution and member of the U.S. national soccer team
- George "Buzz" Westfall, former St. Louis County executive
