Joliet Catholic Academy

Joliet Catholic Academy (Joliet Catholic or JCA) is a coed Catholic high school in Joliet, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. One of the oldest Catholic high schools in the Chicago area, Joliet Catholic is perhaps best known for its prowess in football. Since the advent of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state football playoffs in 1974, JCA is tied for most State Championships with 15.

Joliet Catholic Academy

41°32′44″N 88°07′26″W / 41.5456°N 88.124°W / 41.5456; -88.124

private, coeducational, secondary, parochial

Roman Catholic

1990 (1869 as Saint Francis Academy, 1918 as De LaSalle High School)

Mother Mary Alfred Moes

Diocese of Joliet

Dr. Jeffrey Budz

53

9–12

600 (2021)

21

Suburban

Hilltopper Brown
Angel Blue

"Inspiring Growth in Knowledge and Faith"

East Suburban Catholic Conference

Hilltoppers (m)
Angels (f)

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools^[1]

41—88

The Victory View

$12,990

Carmelites
Joliet Franciscan Sisters

http://www.jca-online.org

The modern school is the result of a merger between the all-girls St. Francis Academy and the all-male Joliet Catholic High School, which was formerly known as DeLaSalle High School for Boys. It is this merger that results in the school's shared affiliation with the Carmelites and the Joliet Franciscan Sisters.

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

It was founded by James Dalton.The Joliet Franciscan Sisters opened St. Francis Academy in 1869 as an all-girls school. The academy was founded in a small stone building convent by Mother Mary Alfred Moes, who later would help found the Mayo Clinic. In 1923, the school moved to the campus of the University of St. Francis, which had opened in 1920. In 1956, the school moved to the building at 1200 N. Larkin, which is the current site of JCA.

George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago, had the De La Salle Christian Brothers create a new high school for boys as a part of their renovation of St. Patrick Church in Joliet. The school opened in 1918 as DeLaSalle High School for Boys with only two classrooms in the parish center, but moved to a new building in 1927. In 1933, the Carmelites took possession of the school, at which time, the school became Joliet Catholic High School.

In the summer of 1990, Joliet Catholic High School and St. Francis Academy merged to form the modern Joliet Catholic Academy.^[2]

Academics[edit]

A college preparatory high school, JCA places students in different academic programs based on their middle school grades, scores on the incoming freshmen placement exam, and scores on other applicable exams.^[3] The main academic levels include Accelerated/ Honors, Upper College Prep, and College Prep. Students may also opt to take Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Credit courses through Joliet Junior College, and may qualify for the Honors Program, Academic Resource Center, or "Degree-in-Three" program through the University of St. Francis.

In terms of Advanced Placement (AP) courses, the school offers Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, Government and Politics, Spanish, French, and European History. The school also offers two courses in AP English and AP Calculus.^[4] Dual credit options include Pre-Calculus, Statistics, Psychology 2, and English.^[5]

Baseball: 3rd place (2007–08); 2nd place (1989–90, 1999–2000, 2003–04); State Champions (1993–94), (2008–09), (2012–13), (2021–22) (2022–23)^[8]

[7]

Football: 2nd place (1992–93, 1996–97, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2023–24); State Champions (1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2018–19, 2021–22)

[9]

Wrestling: State Champions (2021–22)

Golf (boys): 3rd place (1956–57, 1959–60); 2nd place (1958–59); State Champions (1957–58)

Softball: 4th place (1987–88); 2nd place (2020-2021)

[10]

Volleyball (girls): 4th place (1998–99, 2005–06, 2021–22); 3rd place (1986–87, 2006–07, 2018–2019, 2022–23); 2nd place (2010–11, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2019–20) State Champions (2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10)

Basketball (girls): 2nd place (2013–14)

[11]

Tennis (girls): 1 doubles team Madalyn Bauer and McCoy Hutchison won the IHSA Class 1A Doubles State Title (2016)

Soccer (girls): 4th (2019)

Competitive Dance: 3rd place (2019–20, 2020–21); State Champions (2018–19)

Bass Fishing: State Champions (2022)

The men's teams at the school are referred to as the Hilltoppers, the same named used by the former Joliet Catholic High School, while the girls teams retain the name used by St. Francis Academy; the Angels. The school is a member of the East Suburban Catholic Conference.

The school sponsors teams for men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball, wrestling, and bass fishing. Men also compete in baseball and football, while women also compete in softball, competitive dance, and cheerleading.

The football team host home games at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The following teams have finished in the top four of their respective state championship series sponsored by the IHSA:^[6]

Of special note, the football team has won more football titles than any other team in the state. Since the start of the IHSA State Tournament for football in 1974, JCA has qualified for the playoffs 42 times as of (2021-2022 Season)^[12]

(Class of 1986) is a philosopher and economist. Currently he is executive director of the Eudaimonia Institute, as well as professor of economics and Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics, at Wake Forest University. He is also a research professor in the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom and in the Philosophy Department at the University of Arizona and a Senior Fellow at The Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C.^[13]

James Otteson

was the football coach from 1959 to 1985, leading the school to five state titles. He has also served as the head baseball coach at the University of St. Francis (1977–1995 and 2006–2010). He is the all–time leader in baseball coaching victories among American college coaches, recording his 1,800th career win on April 3, 2009. He was named NAIA "Baseball Coach of the Century", and was named by the Chicago Tribune as the Head Football Coach for the "All-Time Illinois High School Football Team".^[30]^[31]

Gordie Gillespie

Controversies[edit]

"Operation After-School Special" drug sting[edit]

In January 2006, Joliet police launched an investigation into a report of drugs at JCA. By April, a sting operation dubbed "Operation After-School Special"^[32] yielded the arrests of five JCA students and four others connected to selling cocaine and ecstasy to an undercover officer.^[33] Eight of the nine people arrested were convicted for their part in selling drugs at JCA.^[33]

Since the scandal, JCA has implemented a drug testing procedure in which all students are tested in the first semester, with a random sample of 25% of students being tested again in the second semester.^[34] The procedure requires a hair sample from the student that, when properly analyzed in a laboratory, should reveal the presence of most major drugs,^[35] including cocaine and ecstasy, the drugs at the center of the infamous 2006 bust. Although new data is unavailable, JCA "touts [a high] drug testing success rate" of 99.996 as of 2012.^[36]

Joliet Catholic Academy