Charlotte Catholic High School


Charlotte Catholic is a high school in Charlotte, North Carolina founded in 1955. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Charlotte Catholic has a student to teacher ratio of 15:4.

Athletics

The Cook Cup is an annual football game between Charlotte Catholic and Charlotte Country Day School, with the football fields alternating schools each year. The cup is named after Country Day Coach Cook.
The school's mascot is the cougar. Charlotte Catholic's school colors are red, white and Columbia blue and occasionally black for special sports games. CCHS has 31 teams competing in 14 different sports as members of the Southern Meck 8 Conference. It had previously been in the 2A conference until 2006 and 3A until 2013. Charlotte Catholic is one of only three non-public school members of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The women's swim team has won fourteen consecutive state championships, with the men's team winning their first championship in 2005. The Men won the 2008 state title as well. In 2006, the school was advanced to the 3A division and the school won both the men's and women's state swimming championships. In 2005, the Cougars won the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Division 3AA Football State Championship, after winning the 2AA Title in 2004. Catholic had a 32-0 record from 2004 to 2005 in football. The Cougars also won the 2A Football State Championship in 1977. They also won the Division II 2A Football State Championships in 1981 and 1984. The girls tennis team has won recent state championships with the last coming in 2012. The football team also won the 2015 4A State Championship with an undefeated record of 15-0.
In 2004–2005 the following teams qualified for the state playoffs: Men's and Women's Track, Volleyball, Football, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Men’s and Women’s Swimming, Men's Golf, and Lacrosse. Also in the 2004–2005 school year, there were 14 conference champions, 12 state team champion and three state individual champions. The successes of the athletic program led to the seventh consecutive year that CCHS was awarded the Wachovia Cup for overall athletic excellence. In 2005, Catholic also joined the Queen City 3A-4A Conference as a 3A team. In 2013, Charlotte Catholic High School moved to 4A as a member of the SoMeck 8 Conference.
In the school year of 2013-2014, Charlotte Catholic was moved up to 4A and joined a new conference. In 2017-2018, Charlotte Catholic will be reclassified down to a 3AA conference.
On May 15, 2010, the Charlotte Catholic Women's Lacrosse team became the first North Carolina Women's Lacrosse state champions in history.
Charlotte Catholic's Rugby team in 2010 had a "perfect regular season and won all three of its matches at USA Rugby South High School Championships advancing to the National championships". In 2011 Charlotte Catholic again competed in the National Championships finishing in 4th place. The rugby team has won seven straight state championships.
The 2008 and 2009 Men's Lacrosse won state championships and had a perfect season in 2008.
During the 2015-2016 school year Charlotte Catholic won both the football and basketball 4A State Championships.

Fine arts

The school puts on two major theatrical productions per year: a fall drama and a spring musical produced by the drama department. The shows are produced on the stage within the gymnasium. There are also 2 major productions done per year by the chorus and honors chorus. The final production usually has a set of songs done by the graduating seniors of both classes.
The Marching and Symphonic Bands placed first for their division in the 2009 Providence Cup marching band competition. They also won 1st place Marching, 1st place Concert Band, and 1st place Grand Champion in a competition in Orlando's Universal Studios. In Ireland, the band performed in the Limerick Marching Showcase, winning Best International Band, and in the Dublin St. Patrick's Day Parade, where the band won Best Overall Band. In 2015, the Marching Band swept first-place awards in Class A with an overall score of 80.79 at the Cuthbertson Showcase of Bands, the first such awards won since 2009. On Thanksgiving Day, 2016 the band participated in the McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago, IL. As of 2017, the band has temporarily ceased performing drilled halftime shows and attending competitions.

Controversy

Principal Healy

In 2014, Jerry Healy, Charlotte Catholic's principal, resigned amidst speculation that he had been embezzling money from a fund set up to aid lower-income families in sending their children to the school. In 2015 Healy pleaded guilty to stealing more than $160,000 from the school as well as the foundation over a seven-year period. While prosecutors suggested probation with no action to take him into custody, in April 2016 U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney Jr. sentenced Healy to three months in a halfway house. Until this point, Healy was a well-known and well-liked member of the Catholic school system community, having served as principal at Charlotte Catholic for over a decade and working closely with the diocese for 44 years.

Lonnie Billard Lawsuit

On January 11, 2017, Lonnie Billard took action to sue Charlotte Catholic High School on an account of discrimination. Billard claims he lost his teaching job at Catholic due to him announcing wedding plans for a long time male partner. The Federal Lawsuit accuses CCHS, Meckenburg Area Catholic Schools, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte of illegal discrimination of him due to his sexual preference. Billard was previously a teacher of the year recipient in 2012, when fully employed by Catholic, until his resign the same year. On October 25, 2014, of which just weeks before North Carolina's same-sex marriage law was eliminated, Billard posted his wedding announcement on Facebook. The lawsuit states that on Christmas Day he was fired as a sub at CCHS. On January 9, 2015, Billard informed Charlotte Media of his termination from Catholic. Multiple legal directors agreed that even though it's a religiously affiliated school, it does not have any right to refuse the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint, filled by the state's office of the American Civil Liberties Union, declares back pay, benefits, punitive damage, compensatory damages for emotional distress, a court order blocking the school and Catholic leaders from taking similar actions in the future, and his substitute teacher job back. The diocese refused to release a statement to the media concerning the events, as the case is still pending.

Sister Jane Dominic Speech

On March 21, 2014, Charlotte Catholic welcomed Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, a Dominican Nun trained at the Pontifical University, to give a speech on Catholic beliefs on gender roles. During the speech, Sister Jane Dominic suggested that masturbation and pornography can lead young adults to become homosexuals and that children raised in single parent homes have a greater likelihood to grow up to be gay. Students and parents were not told ahead of time of the content of her speech. An online petition written by Charlotte Catholic alumni Emma Winters against the content of her speech garnered 2000 signatures and a letter-writing campaign to the Dioceses of Charlotte and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was initiated. Shortly thereafter, a counter petition was written by Charlotte Catholic alumni Jack Denton which defended the dignity of Sister Jane Dominic Laurel since it had come under attack after her lecture. It garnered over 2500 signatures. A parents meeting held by the high school later in the week to discuss the speech attracted nearly a thousand people and the meeting went over an hour longer than scheduled due to the number of parents who wished to ask questions or make comments. The speech and fallout received national media attention. The Dioceses of Charlotte and Bishop Peter Jugis continued to support the teachings of Sister Jane Dominic and she was vigorously supported by Catholic media. In early April, Sister Jane Dominic cancelled all of her scheduled speaking events and took a sabbatical from her teaching position at Aquinas College. The President of Aquinas College stated that in her speech Sister Jane Dominic “spoke clearly on matters of faith and morals” but “her deviation into realms of sociology and anthropology was beyond the scope of her expertise.”

Vaping

On November 17, 2017, Charlotte Catholic announced that disciplinary measures would include the prohibition of vaping devices and letters were sent home on this issue. The use of such devices has led to the expulsion of a "handful" of students.

Staff Member

In March of 2018, Charlotte Catholic fired a school staff member after two students aged between 16 and 17 came forward with inappropriate text conversations.

Firing of Sister Agnes

On May 17, 2020, the contract of Sister Agnes, a member of the Theology department at Charlotte Catholic, was not renewed. A student-created petition garnered hundreds of signatures demanding the reversal of this decision.

Notable alumni