The current president of Bishop Shanahan is Teresa Dellicompagni, who has served in the role since July 1, 2024.[4] The current principal is Dr. Robert W. Moran, Ed.D., who has served in the role since July 7, 2022.[5]
History
Present-day St. Agnes Parochial School, the site of the original St. Agnes High School from 1909 to 1956.
The predecessor to Bishop Shanahan High School was Saint Agnes Parish High School, which was originally founded in 1909 by Monsignor Henry C. Schuyler. The school was located on the grounds of St. Agnes Parish in downtown West Chester, Pennsylvania, and was run by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.H.M.).[6]
In the 1950s, plans were made to construct a new school building in order to accommodate growing enrollment. The town's local Knights of Columbus council donated a nearby parcel of land, and ground was broken in 1956 on the new building, which would open one year later. On September 9, 1957, CardinalJohn Francis O'Hara dedicated the new school as "Bishop Shanahan High School", honoring the late Bishop John W. Shanahan of the Diocese of Harrisburg.[6] An addition to the building was completed in 1980, bringing its size up to 62,000 square feet.[7]
From 1980 to 1997, Chester County saw a 40% increase in its Catholic population. The rise in population resulted in a dramatic increase in enrollment at Bishop Shanahan, which was the only archdiocesan high school in the county. By 1995, the school was operating above capacity and was forced to install portable classrooms to accommodate overcrowding conditions. In that same year, plans were developed to construct a new and larger school on one of two Archdiocese-owned properties in nearby Downingtown. Downingtown was ultimately chosen to be the location of the new school due to its central location within the county, along with its proximity to the US 30bypass, allowing for easier access to the school for residents of Exton and western portions of the county. Ground was broken on the new, $30 million school on October 27, 1996, with Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua presiding over the ceremony.[6][8]
The new Bishop Shanahan High School opened to students in September 1998. Upon its opening, the new building was 220,000 square feet, over three times larger than the previous building,[7] and could accommodate up to 1,200 students. In addition, the new school featured a 60-seat chapel, a 14,000 square-foot gymnasium, a 5,000 square-foot library, a 1,200 seat auditorium, 31 classrooms, and additional athletic fields throughout the 80-acre campus. Upon the time of the previous building's closure in 1997, the school had experienced an enrollment increase of nearly 200 students since 1993.[9] When the new building opened, enrollment continued to grow, and a two-story expansion was completed in 2001 to provide 14 additional classrooms, bringing capacity up to 1,600 students.[10]
In 2005, a 2,000-seat football stadium was completed on the campus of the school. Further upgrades to the stadium in 2015 provided lighting, a resurfaced track, and a new synthetic turf field.[6]
In 2023, the school was awarded the National Certificate for STEM Excellence (NCSE) from the National Institute for STEM Education (NISE), becoming the first high school in Pennsylvania and the first Catholic high school nationwide to receive the certification. Additionally, the NISE awarded six teachers at the school with a National Certificate in STEM Teaching.[11]
Academics
Bishop Shanahan offers three levels of course difficulty, including college prep (CP) and honors, along with Advanced Placement (AP) for select courses. Students also have the opportunity to take dual enrollment courses at nearby colleges, including Immaculata University and Neumann University. The school also offers STEM-focused courses, along with partnering with a local technical school to offer courses on specific trades.[12]
Bishop Shanahan's most recent graduating class of 2024 amassed a total of over $53 million in scholarship awards from colleges and universities.[13]
Extracurricular activities
Bishop Shanahan has over 30 clubs and extracurricular activities. Some of these include: academic bowl, community service corps, DECA, language clubs, mock trial, mathletes, world affairs club, and yearbook club.[14]
The school hosts the Monsignor Schuyler Chapter of the National Honor Society, named after Monsignor Henry C. Schuyler, who founded the original St. Agnes High School.[15]
The fine arts department at Bishop Shanahan offers multiple bands, choruses, and art courses. The department also puts on an annual fall musical, with the most recent production being Grease.[14]
The current athletic director of Bishop Shanahan is Paul Meyers, who also serves as the school's head football coach. The school participates in 18 varsity sports.[16]
On April 25, 2023, the Bishop Shanahan boys' lacrosse team defeated Oxford Area High School, 11–1, earning Shanahan's head coach Jon Heisman his 513th win as a head coach, a Pennsylvania high school lacrosse record.[17]
Feeder schools
As the only Archdiocesan secondary school in Chester County, Bishop Shanahan draws from a large geographic area, with many Catholic elementary schools in the county serving as feeder schools. Some feeder schools include:
Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, 33 miles (53 km) west of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 7,898. Downingtown was settled by European colonists in 1716 and has a number of historic buildings and structures.
West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighboring townships. When calculated by mailing address, the population as of the 2010 U.S. census was 108,696, which would make it the 10th-largest city by mailing address in Pennsylvania.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Downingtown Area School District is a school district based in Downingtown, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The district operates ten elementary schools, three middle schools and three high schools. As of 2018, the district educates approximately 12,000 students, making it the largest school district in Chester County.
Delaware County Community College (DCCC) is a public community college with campuses and facilities throughout Delaware and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania. DCCC was founded in 1967 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The college offers 53 associate degree programs and 43 certificate programs at nine different locations.
Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School is a Roman Catholic Franciscan high school for young men administered and staffed by the Order of Friars Minor located in South Buffalo, New York. Bishop Timon High School, as it was originally known, was founded in 1946 by the Franciscan Friars.
Bishop England High School is a diocesan Roman Catholic four-year high school in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It was located on Calhoun Street in downtown Charleston until it moved to a newly constructed 40-acre campus located on Daniel Island in 1998. With an enrollment of 730, Bishop England is the largest private high school in the state of South Carolina. The school was founded in 1915 and was named after John England, the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston.
Quigley Catholic High School was located in Baden, Pennsylvania. It was the only Roman Catholic high school in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The school opened in 1967 and was named after Monsignor Thomas J. Quigley, and it closed after on May 29, 2020.
Marquette High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in Bellevue, Iowa, United States. It is in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque.
Joseph Francis Martino is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2009. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1996 to 2003.
Monsignor Scanlan High School is an American four-year private, Roman Catholic high school located in the Throggs Neck neighborhood of The Bronx, New York City, New York. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.
Joseph Patrick McFadden was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he was installed as Bishop of Harrisburg on August 18, 2010. He served in that position until his death in 2013.
Patrick Vincent Ahern was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1970 to 1994.
Robert Patrick Maginnis was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1996 to 2010.
The Ches-Mont League is a high school sports league primarily located in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Currently, the league consists of thirteen high schools, divided into two divisions. Twelve of the schools are from Chester County, with one from Delaware County.
John Joseph McCort was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Altoona from 1920 until his death in 1936.
John Walter Shanahan was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania from 1899 until his death in 1916.
The 2012 Archdiocese of Philadelphia school closings was the solution to the reducing enrollment problem of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, caused mainly by demographic shifts and an increasing number of students enrolling in unaffiliated schools. Because of this, tuition rates had to be raised, causing fewer families to be able to afford the cost. Being in the decision process for years, the list was finalized by the Blue Ribbon Commission on January 6, 2012 at around 11:00 AM. The schools were informed soon afterward, and they were all officially announced during the press conference at 4:00 PM.
Keith James Chylinski is an American Catholic prelate who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania since 2023.
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