Catasauqua High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in Catasauqua, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. The school's mascot is the Rough Rider. School colors are brown and white, with gold sometimes used as an accentuating third color. During the 2016-2017 academic year, the high school was attended by 485 students, making it one of the smaller public high schools in the Lehigh Valley region. Catasauqua High School is the only high school in the Catasauqua Area School District. The school district also includes Catasauqua Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8, and Francis H. Sheckler Elementary School, which serves kindergarten through grade 4. Although Catasauqua High School is part of the Catasauqua Area School District and serves the residents of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, the school building is physically located in the city and county of Northampton. The previous high school building, situated in Catasauqua proper, is now the middle school building. The previous middle school building, which was in fact the original high school building, is currently home to the Lehigh Valley Christian High School.
Athletics
The Catasauqua High School mascot is the Rough Rider and the athletic teams are colloquially referred to as the “Roughies.” The school colors are brown and white, with gold sometimes used as an accentuating third color. Catasauqua High School participates in the Class AA division of PIAADistrict XI and in the Colonial League for sports. The school fields teams in each of the following sports listed below.
The Catasauqua High School Sports Hall of Fame, a body which honors past Catasauqua High School athletes who have distinguished themselves in the local community and beyond, was created in 2004 and inducted its first members that year. A shrine in the high school's gymnasium houses a plaque/picture in recognition of each athlete inducted. The list includes such noteworthy athletes as Larry Miller, Pat Kelly, and Jon Linton. Beginning in 2005, the body also now awards an annual scholarship to college-bound recipients for athletic accomplishments achieved.
The school's football team competes in the Class AA division of PIAA District XI and in the Colonial League in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The team plays its home games at Alumni Field in Catasauqua. In 2008, the program celebrated its 100th season of competition. In 2013 the Catasauqua – Northamption game played its game on a neutral site.
On each Thanksgiving Day, the Catasauqua Rough Riders play a non-league game against their rival, the Northampton Konkrete Kids. The game is not sanctioned and does not count as a win or loss for official standings with regard to playoff consideration within the PIAA. The game is always considered to be Homecoming for Catasauqua, regardless of whether the game is played at home or away. These two high schools from neighboring towns first played each other in 1925 and the game ended in a controversial victory for Catasauqua. A rematch was challenged by Northampton and scheduled for Thanksgiving Day to decide the outcome as that was the only available day on the calendar. Catasauqua won both games the first year. In 1926, once again the two schools met and again the game ended in a controversial victory, this time for Northampton. Catasauqua challenged a rematch and once again they met on Thanksgiving Day to decide the outcome. Northampton won both games the second year. Beginning in 1927, the game was agreed to be played on Thanksgiving Day from the onset of the season. A tradition was born and the game has been played every year since. Both schools and their respective communities have developed a bitter rivalry toward each other. For a number of years through 1968, the Catasauqua – Northamption game was played on a neutral site. Beginning in 1969, the games were held alternately at the teams' home fields until 2013, when the game was again played at Muhlenberg. In the most recent game, in 2018, Northampton beat Catasauqua.
