Benet Academy
Ora et labora[1] Pray and work
Address
2200 Maple Avenue Lisle, Illinois, 60532 USA
Coordinates	41°47′02″N 88°05′41″W / 41.784°N 88.0946°W / 41.784; -88.0946
Information
Type	Private, Parochial, Coeducational
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Established	1887
Authority	Benedictines
Oversight	Diocese of Joliet
CEEB Code	142-635
President	Fr. Jude Randall, OSB[2]
Principal	Stephen Marth[2]
Teaching staff	76[3]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,333[4] (2009)
Campus	suburban
Color(s)	red      white
Athletics conference	East Suburban Catholic Conference
Team name	Redwings
Accreditation(s)	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[5]
Average ACT scores (Class of 2009)	28.1[6]
Tuition	US$8,200[3]
Website	http://www.benet.org/

Benet Academy (often shortened to Benet; pronounced BEN-et) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory, Catholic, Benedictine high school in Lisle, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. The school was formerly a part of Benedictine University, and the two schools continue to maintain a strong relationship.

[edit] History

Abbot Nepomucene Jaeger

St. Procopius College and Academy was founded in Chicago in 1887^[7] as an all-boys school that taught students of Czech and Slovak descent.^[8] It was led by Abbot John Nepomucene Jaeger of the Order of St. Benedict and was located at the intersection of 18th and Allport Streets in the Pilsen neighborhood.^[9]

The first Bohemian abbot in the United States, Abbot Jaeger founded in 1894 a Bohemian community for the exclusive purpose of teaching at the Bohemian parochial schools not only in English, but also in their native language.^[10] The monks also took care of several Bohemian and Polish children who had lost their parents to unrest in Eastern Europe, but the Chicago diocese then found that it had too many orphans to care for and needed to expand its operations.^[7] The diocese gave the St. Procopius monks 40 acres (16 ha) of land in Lisle.^[7] The monks opened St. Joseph Bohemian Orphanage in 1898^[11][12][13] in the Rott farmhouse,^[14] which lay at the southeast corner of the intersection of Maple and College Avenues and on the grounds of modern-day St. Procopius Abbey.^[7] On March 14, 1899, twelve Bohemian children were moved from Chicago to St. Joseph's, and the orphanage began its work under the supervision of the Sisters of St. Benedict.^[15] The Sisters of St. Benedict was first established in Chicago in 1885 with the help of Mother Mary Nepomucena Jaeger, sister of Abbot Jaeger.^[16]

A satellite image of the intersection of Maple and Yackley/College Avenues. Landmarks are as follows: (1) Benet Academy, (2) Benedictine University, (3) St. Procopius Abbey, (4) Sacred Heart Monastery.

St. Procopius monks decided on March 12, 1900, that a new College should be built^[17] on the site of present-day Benedictine University at the southwest corner of Maple and College Avenues.^[8] Construction continued until 1901. School operations were moved in May of that year,^[17][18] and classes began in September. High school classes began in 1904.^[17] Annexations were added to the main building in 1907 and 1922. A second building was built in 1915, followed by a gym and a power plant in 1925, and a physical sciences building in 1943.^[9] By 1947, the high school enrolled an average of 30 students.^[19]

St. Joseph Hall today

A new administration building was built for St. Joseph's in 1910 on the grounds of what is now Benet Academy. It is currently referred to as St. Joseph Hall and continues to house the administrative offices of the school. A separate dormitory building was built in 1912, but it has been converted into classrooms and is now known as Benet Hall. A power house was built in 1921, and a gymnasium in 1938.^[15][7] By 1948 the orphanage was comprised of the Lisle Manual Training School for Boys and the Lisle Industrial School for Girls, both of which were also managed by the Sisters of St. Benedict.^[19] The orphanage ultimately closed in 1956 to make room for St. Procopius Academy, which had separated from the College so that both institutions could operate independently.^[9]

Sacred Heart Academy in 1913. Construction, which began in 1912, is one-fourth complete.

Sacred Heart Academy, an all girls school, was founded in 1926 by the Sisters of St. Benedict,^[18] who had come to Lisle in 1912 to build the monastery that Sacred Heart would be located in.^[16] Like many other Catholic schools in the 1960's, Sacred Heart faced rising costs and merged with St. Procopius Academy on the latter's campus to form Benet Academy in 1967.^[16][11]

[edit] Academics

Benet Academy is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the National Catholic Educational Association.^[12]

In order to graduate, all students undergo a college preparatory curriculum that requires 4 Carnegie units of English, 2 units of foreign language, 3 units of math, 1 unit of world history, 1 unit of US history, 3 units of lab science, 2.5 units of religion, 1.5 units of physical education, and 5 units of electives. This adds up to a total of 22 Carnegie units required to graduate.^[4] Students can also earn college credit through participation in 11 Advanced Placement courses, the Program for Advanced College Credit (PACC) through St. Mary's University of Minnesota, and the Benedictine University Future Scholars Program.^[4][20]

[edit] Demographics

1,333 students were enrolled at the school for the 2009-2010 school year.^[4] Admission is competitive and requires students to take the High School Placement Test at Benet Academy in January while he or she is in eighth grade.^[20] For the 2003-2004 school year, 600 students applied for admission, 387 were accepted, and 338 enrolled. 97% of students were Roman Catholic. 2% received financial aid totaling $3,000 for tuition that was worth $6,000 at that time. The average class size was 27 students.^[21] Students in the class of 2013 previously attended 65 different grade schools and junior high schools and live in 34 municipalities located in the counties of DuPage, Cook, Kane, and Will.^[22]

All 327 students in Benet's graduating class of 2009 took the ACT as juniors and achieved an average composite score of 28.1 on a 36-point scale. That marked the sixth straight year Benet's composite score has topped 28, compared to the statewide average of 20.8 and the national average of 21.1. Over 35% of the class had scores of 30 or higher.^[6] The class of 2008 had an average composite score of 28.3, a record for the school.^[23] As part of the National Merit Scholarship Program, the class of 2008 also had 9 National Merit Semi-Finalists, 34 National Merit Commended Scholars, and 5 National Merit Hispanic Scholars. There were also 137 Illinois State Scholars.^[20]

Benet employs 76 teachers,^[3] 26 of which are alumni of the school.^[22] The average faculty tenure is 17.6 years.^[3] Tim White, an English teacher, completed his fiftieth consecutive year of teaching at Benet during the 2008–2009 school year and was featured in ABC 7 News's segment "Someone You Should Know".^[24]

[edit] Athletics

The Benet Academy Redwings compete in the East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) and state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).

The school sponsors teams for both men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Men may compete in baseball, and football, while women may compete in cheerleading and softball.

While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors teams for men and women in lacrosse. The women's lacrosse team plays in the Southwest Suburban Conference, and competes in the Illinois High School Women's Lacrosse Association.^[25] The men compete in the Dupage I Conference sponsored by the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association.^[26]

Benet also fields a men's ice hockey team^[27] that, while not officially sponsored by the school, is recognized as an affiliated team.^{[citation needed]}

The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective state tournaments sponsored by the IHSA:^[28]

• Basketball (boys): 3rd place (1978–79)
• Cross Country (boys): 3rd place (1991–92)
• Cross Country (girls): 4th place (1996–97); 3rd place (2006–07)
• Football: 2nd place (1984–85)
• Soccer (boys): State Champions (2000–01, 01–02)
• Tennis (girls): 4th place (1980–81)
• Volleyball (girls): 2nd place (2008–09)

Of note are three state-record streaks held by Benet's boys basketball team. From November 26, 1975 to January 24, 1987 the team compiled a 102-game home winning streak. Within that streak, from January 21, 1977 to February 24, 1984, the team compiled a 96 game in-conference winning streak (set prior to joining the ESCC). The twelve consecutive 20-win seasons from 1975–87) is tied for the ninth longest streak in state history.^[29]

[edit] Notable alumni

• Dave Bickler, 1971, is a Grammy winning rock singer and former lead singer of the group Survivor, who also sang the rock star role in Bud Light's award-winning ad campaign Real Men of Genius.^[30][31]
• Joan Biskupic, 1974, is a Washington Post journalist who covers the US Supreme Court and wrote a biography of Sandra Day O'Connor.^[32]
• Diablo Cody, 1996, is the author of Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper and Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno.^[30][33]
• Mark DeCarlo, 1980, was an actor in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and was host of the game show Studs.^[34]
• Nancy Johnson, 1992, won the gold medal in the women's 10 metre air rifle at the 2000 Summer Olympics.^[30][35][36]
• Dan LeFevour, 2005, is the current quarterback for Central Michigan University.^[37]
• James McManus, 1969, is a professional poker player and author of Positively Fifth Street.^[38]
• Ben Murphy, 1960, is an actor best known for his work on the television series Alias Smith & Jones.^[30]
• Dan Proft, 1994, is a political commentator and gubernatorial candidate for the 2010 election.^[39]
• Jim Ryan, 1964, is a former Illinois Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate for the 2010 election.^[30]
• Greta Salpeter, 2006, is the lead singer and pianist for the band The Hush Sound.^[40]

Diablo Cody

Nancy Johnson

James McManus

[edit] See also

Schools portal

• Benedictine University
• Procopius of Sázava

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikinews has related news: Benet Academy

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benet Academy

• Benet Academy official website
• Benet Academy and St. Procopious Academy's alumni website
• Benet Academy student newspaper