Archbishop Ryan High School


Archbishop Ryan High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The school is named after Patrick John Ryan, Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1894 to 1911.
Established in 1966, Archbishop Ryan High School is the largest Catholic secondary school in the city of Philadelphia with a current enrollment of 1,325 students. The students come from over 60 catholic, public and charter elementary schools in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery County.
Archbishop Ryan High School consists of extensive technology resources:
84 classrooms, 7 computer labs, 3 music rooms, 2 newly renovated science labs, 2 state-of-the-art sports gymnasiums, 2 art studios, 1, 1 graphic design lab, 1 iMac Music Tech Lab, and 1 new Black Box Theater that was dedicated in the Spring of 2013 and seats 140 people. The entire school is wireless with internet access.
Over 600 of Archbishop Ryan's current students are second generation Ryan students.

History

The doors of Archbishop Ryan High Schools opened for the first time in 1966 as a co-institutional facility, i.e., two separate single-sex facilities with separate administration and faculty for each side of the building. Founded under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Archbishop Ryan was the twenty-eighth archdiocesan high school to be founded. The process of merging the two schools into one co-educational school began in 1988.
Ryan was the twenty-eighth archdiocesan high school, the sixth begun by Cardinal John Krol, who continued the tradition of furthering Catholic education in the Philadelphia archdiocese. The tract on Academy Road accommodates a spacious school building, and outdoor athletic fields as well as parking areas. The original design by architects, Dagit Associates, eased the merger. The central shared facilities of auditorium, library media center, and chapel serve the coeducational student body. Ryan draws students from all across the Philadelphia area extending into the surrounding suburban areas.
In the summer of 2014, Archbishop Ryan hired the current president, Denise LePera, as the previous president, Michael McArdle, was appointed to the office of Director of Financial Aid in the Office of Catholic Education within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In June 2017, Denise LePera stepped down as President of Archbishop Ryan. In November 2017, Michael Barnett '90 was appointed the newest President of Archbishop Ryan.

Notable alumni

One of Archbishop Ryan's main attributes is the school's extensive and broad academic program. Offering many fields of study, Ryan offers a variety of studies such as English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Natural and Physical Science Studies, World Languages, Business, Technology, Religion, Music, and Fine Art Studies. Coursework is required in the fields of English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Natural and Physical Science Studies, Religion and World Languages.
Archbishop Ryan has a student/teacher ratio of 21:1. Ryan offers both courses in writing skills and digital literacy, and has 11 AP classes. Ryan offers a 4-year art program, including AP art and a 4-year music instrumental program. Ryan also offers a music tech course. Holy Family University offers college level courses at the Ryan campus for seniors during the regular school day.
Archbishop Ryan hosts the archdiocesan program for students with diagnosed learning needs, the Bonaventure Program. The Bonaventure Program is for applicants with an IEP.
The Class of 2013 received $18 million in scholarships and financial aid for post-graduate study. Approximately 92% of Ryan's graduates go on to higher education.

Athletics

The competitive boys' sports of Archbishop Ryan include baseball, basketball, football, wrestling, bowling, cross country, ice hockey, golf, indoor/outdoor track and field, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, and tennis.
The competitive girls' sports of Archbishop Ryan include basketball, bowling, cross country, field hockey, indoor/outdoor track and field, lacrosse, ragdoll cheerleading, raider cheerleading, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and swimming.

Extracurricular activities

With a variety of extracurricular activities, Archbishop Ryan emphasizes and stresses the importance of involvement and participation in the school and community with almost 94% of the student body participating in after school activities and sports. The school boasts well over 74 clubs with everything from Strategy Games club to a Sewing club.
Archbishop Ryan has a theater program that produces 2 musical productions per year. It also hosts a summer program that produces a summer musical. Their auditorium's sound booth provides up to date Izod Surround Sound 55:1 settings.
The Ryan Review, Archbishop Ryan's award-winning newspaper, has received recognition year-after-year for journalistic excellence. All of the Review's editors are members of the Quill & Scroll International Honor Society for High School Journalism and the staff writers study closely with the editors. The staff uses Associated Press Formatting and InDesign to produce their paper. The Ryan Review does most of its own photography through the Photo Editor and two photographers through the use of a Nikon D40 camera with a 14-155mm lens. You do not need to be in the Journalism Course to submit written work or photo into the paper. All submissions should be sent to room 217N. This paper also features a unique texting service to allow student interaction with the editors. See the paper for details.
The Yearbook provides a way for students to participate in creating a yearbook which will be handed out to each graduating class as part of their prom fee. Students use InDesign, Photoshop, and Paint to do layout work for the yearbook and take most of their own pictures, using digital cameras and a single Nikon D300.
Other clubs and activities include: