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Berks Catholic High School

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Coordinates: 40°19′25″N 75°56′47″W / 40.32361°N 75.94639°W / 40.32361; -75.94639
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berks Catholic High School
Berks Catholic High School in August 2021
Address
Map
955 East Wyomissing Boulevard

Reading
,
(Berks County)
,
Pennsylvania
19611

United States
Coordinates40°19′25″N 75°56′47″W / 40.32361°N 75.94639°W / 40.32361; -75.94639
Information
TypePrivate, Coeducational
MottoUnum in Christo
(One in Christ)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established2011
AuthorityRoman Catholic Diocese of Allentown
CEEB code394-147
PrincipalJohn Petruzzelli[1]
ChaplainFr. Matthew Kuna
Grades9-12
Enrollmentc. 726 (2019–20)
Color(s)   Black and gold
Fight songVictory March (instrumental only) [2]
MascotSaint Bernard
Team nameSaints
RivalWyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
PublicationThe Trinity
YearbookThe Sanctus
Websitewww.berkscatholic.org

Berks Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive coeducational Roman Catholic preparatory secondary school located in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It was formed out of a merger of Holy Name High School and Reading Central Catholic High School in 2011. It is approved and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown.

History

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Following the 2010-2011 academic year, the Diocese of Allentown under Bishop John Barres closed both Holy Name High School and Reading Central Catholic High School. The Diocese then established Berks Catholic High School, which officially opened on July 1, 2011, on the site of the former Holy Name High School.

The school's first Principal was Tony Balistere from 2011 until 2019 after his promotion to a diocesan job in Allentown. Alice Einoff was principal for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 academic years during the COVID-19 pandemic during which many months of school instruction were online. Following Einoff, Bill Hess was principal for two academic years before the current principal, John Petruzzelli, began in the position.

In the late 2010s, Berks Catholic had capacity issues since the school could not support the number of students attending.[citation needed] A $9 million expansion project was completed by the beginning of the 2018 school year to fix this issue.

Students

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The average SAT score is 1160. The School is 53% female and 47% male. The racial makeup of the school is 61.3% Caucasian, 25% Hispanic, 2.9% Asian, and 2.5% African American with the rest of the student population being of other races or international students. The colleges with the highest matriculation rate are Penn State, Temple University, The University of Pittsburgh, Drexel University, St. Joseph’s University, Alvernia University, and West Chester University.[4] Between 94 and 100 percent of students at Berks Catholic choose to attend college after graduating.

Education

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Berks Catholic offers advanced placement courses.

Athletics

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Boys

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Girls

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Berks Catholic’s only win in a state championship for a team sport was in girls volleyball in 2015.[5]

Saints football

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Playoff appearances and history

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The Berks Catholic football program was formed in 2011 with a merger of the Holy Name Blue Jays and the Central Catholic Cardinals, former cross-town rivals. The Blue Jays’ head Coach, Rick Keeley, became the coach of the Saints. Keeley retired from his coaching position following the 2023 season. In its existence the program has enjoyed much success. The Saints’ first appearance in the playoffs was in their second year of play in 2012, they appeared again in the years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. They have only missed playoffs twice as of November 2021, in their first year and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, where the criteria for choosing a playoff team was different. After Rick Keeley’s retirement in 2023, Dave Stahler became coach of the Saints.[6]

Championships and awards

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Berks Catholic has won the PIAA District III championship a total of four times, twice in their time spent in AA in 2013 and in 2015 against local rival Wyomissing and twice in AAAA in 2016 and 2017.[7] They were coached by Rick Keeley from the teams inception in 2011 until 2023. During his time as coach, Keeley won Eastern PA Football’s 4-A coach of the year award in 2016.[8]

Rivalries

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Berks Catholic’s historic rival in athletics is the Wyomissing Spartans, both Berks County football powerhouses. This began as one of Holy Name’s two rivalries, the other impossible to carry on the tradition of during the forming of the new school because the other rival was the school they were merging with, Central Catholic. The series is called the Backyard Brawl and it was played annually from 2011 to 2019. The Keeley-Wolfram trophy (named after each team’s coach) was introduced in 2012 and memorializes the matchup.[9] The Spartans lead in trophy wins but the Saints lead the overall series 6-5 thanks to the times the Spartans and Saints met in the playoffs before the Saints joined PIAA AAAA. The meeting has not taken place in football since 2019, when Wyomissing stopped scheduling non-required matchups with Berks Catholic. The match up is set to re-commence in September 2022[10][needs update] due to a conference merger. In the years without the Backyard Brawl, the game between Berks Catholic and Exeter Township Senior High School was the most spirited local match up.

Anthony Myers and 17 Strong

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Anthony Myers at the school as a sophomore in November 2018

Anthony Myers was a track runner and football running back and cornerback for Berks Catholic High School.[11] He was a talented player who lettered in football his freshman year. On October 21, 2018, he was diagnosed with Stage III anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer. After his diagnoses, he was cleared to play for one final football game, a playoff game against The Milton Hershey School. During his final game, Myers scored two touchdowns, the second on a notable 80-yard punt return.

Myers received a huge amount of support from the local community, including the Philadelphia Eagles; he got to meet with then Eagles coach Doug Pederson and Alshon Jeffery with whom he shared the jersey number 17, among other Eagles and New York Giants players when he attended a game where he and the Berks Catholic Football team were granted 50 sideline tickets. He received a video supporting him which had many high school teams and sports stars sending messages of support, including Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright, JJ Redick of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari wishing Myers well. Myers also appeared on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football and was given free tickets to Super Bowl LIII.[12]

His cancer treatment was documented on social media as 17 Strong and many t-shirts and other items bearing the words "17 Strong" or "Take Me to Practice" were sold during his treatment to support the Anthony Myers Movement, a charity founded by Myers. The non-profit organization's stated goals are family financial assistance, retreat and respite aid, aid for medical education, and medical research funding.[13]

On December 4, 2018, after several weeks of his condition worsening, Myers died. Berks Catholic retired his football letter during and before the 2020–2021 season the AstroTurf Corporation donated two patches that had a large gold and white “17” marking the 17 yard line on the football field at Berks Catholic.[14] Myers was honored at the football team’s class of 2021 senior night, and at the class of 2021’s graduation ceremony.

References

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  1. ^ "Principal". www.berkscatholic.org.
  2. ^ Berks Catholic High School (27 August 2021). "Berks Catholic vs Executive Education Academy Charter School". YouTube. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  3. ^ MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  4. ^ "Niche Berks Catholic High School". Niche. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Scarcella, Rich (June 28, 2021). "Berks Catholic grad Lexi Leddy takes over as Saints girls volleyball coach". Yahoo! News.
  6. ^ Anastasia, Phil (September 23, 2020). "PIAA approves plans for fall sports high school playoffs". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "Berks Catholic (Reading, PA) Maxpreps". Archived from the original on 2016-09-24.
  8. ^ Mika, David (December 29, 2016). "Class 4A Coach of the Year, Rick Keeley, Berks Catholic". Eastern PA Football. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26.
  9. ^ Drago, Mike (November 1, 2012). "Trophy games spice up rivalries". The Reading Eagle. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "2022-2023 Berks Catholic Football Schedule". Saints Athletics. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26.
  11. ^ "MaxPreps Anthony Myers". Maxpreps. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  12. ^ McManus, Tim (January 5, 2019). "'Let the kid play': The inspiring story of Eagles fan Anthony Myers". ESPN. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  13. ^ "Anthony Myers Movement". Anthony Myers Movement. October 29, 2021. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  14. ^ "Spotlight on Berks Sports". Spotlight on Berks Sports Facebook. April 3, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
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