St. James High School for Boys

St. James High School for Boys was a Roman Catholic high school in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The mascot was the bulldog.[1]

Former St. James Church in Chester, Pennsylvania

The school closed in 1993 on the orders of the archdiocese. Ed Gebhart of the Delco Times wrote that the ceasing of operations was "as controversial today as it was at the time".[2]

Alumni
Saint James High School Alumni Association in Eddystone, Pennsylvania

After the school closed, a group of 20-30 alumni asked the archdiocese to sell and/or lease the building to them, but the archdiocese refused. The alumni association by 2012 built a membership base of 1,550. Gebhart stated that this "mushroomed into a probably the largest and most active alumni in the entire Delaware Valley".[3]

The St. James High School alumni association established a headquarters in Eddystone, Pennsylvania with a banquet area, bar and chapel. It is named the 'Doghouse" as a reference to the school mascot.[1] A monument to the school was established at the headquarters in 2017.[4] Timothy Logue of Delco Times described the building as "de facto museum of everything St. James"[1] including a "Wall of Honor" highlighting notable graduates.[2]

Culture

Every Thanksgiving the students in the varsity club did a food drive. The alumni association continued it after the school closed. The group of alumni doing it meet at the alumni association headquarters and call themselves "Varsity Club II".[5]

Notable people

Legacy

St. James Regional Catholic School in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, a Catholic K-8 school which opened in 2012, was named in honor of the former St. James High School. The St. James High alumni association suggested the name and the new school asked to use not only the name but also the mascot and colors.[1] The St. James High alumni headquarters hosted the first fundraiser for St. James Regional.[7]

References
  1. Logue, Timothy (2012-02-04). "Merged school in Ridley Park will resurrect legendary St. James' name". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  2. Gebhart, Ed (2011-09-10). "GEBHART: Alumni make sure no one forgets St. James". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  3. Gebhart, Ed (2012-02-18). "GEBHART: St. James mystique becomes clearer all the time". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  4. Rodgers, Loretta (2017-09-03). "St. James High School alumni gather to dedicate monument". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  5. DeGrasa, Peg (2019-11-27). "It's Turkey time: St. James alumni surpass goal of 900 birds to feed hungry". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  6. Ramsay, Jack (2004). Dr. Jack's Leadership Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Basketball. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 0-471-46929-7. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  7. Ormsby, Barbara (2012-05-07). "St. Gabe's memories remain". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
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