We’re so happy to have you joining us at St. Paul today!

 

WHEN DID ST. PAUL OPEN? 

St. Paul Catholic High School first opened its doors in 1966 with founding principal, Reverend Edmund M. O’Brien. The first graduate class of 1970 had 149 graduates who would walk down the aisle of the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, CT.  Now St. Paul is home to 400+ students from 35 different communities as well as China, Korea, Vietnam, Peru, and Colombia!

 

ATHLETICS

RECENT STATE, LEAGUE, AND INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

Check out below to see some of our most recent athletic accomplishments!

State:

• Baseball Class S State Champions 2022 – Defeated Somers 5-0

League:

• Boys Lacrosse WCLC Champions 2023 – Defeated Watertown 10-9
• Girls Basketball NVL Champions 2023 – Defeated Holy Cross High School 51-47
• Girls Lacrosse WCLC Champions 2022 – Defeated Watertown
• Boys Golf NVL Champions 2022

Individual:

• Mikel Palaj ’22 Boys Swim State Champion 2022 – 50 YD Freestyle (State Open), 100 YD Butterfly (Class LL), 50 YD Freestyle (Class LL)
• Tyler Turner ’23 Indoor Track State Champion 2022 – Long Jump (Class S)
• Allie Barton ’23 Indoor Track State Champion 2023 – 55m Hurdles (Class S)

 

 

ALUMNI STEVE PIKIELL ’86 COACH AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Who doesn’t love March Madness for the NCAA tournament? One of our very own St. Paul graduates of 1986 is the head basketball coach at Rutgers University! Steve Pikiell, played basketball for St. Paul and earned himself a spot on the 1,000-point banner in the gym for boys basketball with 1,487 points! After graduation, he attended the University of Connecticut where he continued his basketball career until graduating in 1991.

Pikiell continued to be an assistant coach of the UConn Men’s Basketball team among other schools such as Yale, Wesleyan and CCSU. It was in 2005 when Steve started his head coaching career as the head men’s basketball coach at Stony Brook. During his time at Stony Brook, Pikiell led the Seawolves to 3 American East regular season titles, winning the conference tournament for the first time in their school history since 2016 as well as their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Steve was named to the head coach of Rutgers University Men’s Basketball for the 2016-2017, and is still currently coaching in this position. During his first season, Steve was named the Jim Phelan Award earner for national coach of the year. While coaching at Rutgers, Steve led his team to their first NCAA appearance since their 1900-1991 season as a number 10 seed. On March 19, 2021, Steve’s Rutgers won their first NCAA game in 38 years beating Clemson! Steve Pikiell has also earned the Peter A. Carlesimo Award, presented by the Met Basketball Writers Association to the top coach in the Metropolitan Area while at Rutgers! Recently Steve picked up his 100th career win at Rutgers and his 300th overall coaching career win. Way to go Steve!

 

ALUMNI BYRON JONES ’10

Do you know Byron Jones? You may know Byron from the Dallas Cowboys or most recently from the Miami Dolphins, but did you know that Byron Jones is a 2010 St. Paul Graduate!

While in high school, Byron competed in football, track and basketball. Byron was a tremendous 3-sport athlete, earning 1st place finishes in the 200 and 400 meter dash at the NVL League Championships for Outdoor Track and Field! During his high school football career, Byron earned Class MM All-state and All NVL as a senior.

After graduation, Byron attended the University of Connecticut to play football and entered the 2015 NFL Draft. In the NFL combine, Byron holds the unofficial record for the standing long jump at 12 feet 3 inches helping to earn him a top defensive back prospect for the draft. In the 2015 NFL Draft, Byron was selected in the first round (27th overall) to the Dallas Cowboys, and finished his career with the Miami Dolphins. During his time with the NFL, Byron was selected as a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee which recognizes a player for their outstanding community service off the field and excellence on the field.

 

1,000 POINT SCORERS

Have you seen our renovated Rev. Brian Monnerat Gymnasium? We said goodbye to the 50 year old bleachers, floor, divider and scoreboards and upgraded to a beautiful gymnasium that our students can enjoy! In the corner of that gym you will notice two long banners hanging by our scoreboard which lists our 1,000 point basketball scorers since we first opened in 1966. Let’s start with the Boy’s Basketball banner. St. Paul has 9 players that scored over 1,000 points. The first player to ever reach 1,000 points was Mark Noon back in 1975! In 2023, Jamie Leggett ’23 was the 10th player to reach this milestone.

In the school’s history, there have only been four girl basketball players to score over 1,000 points in their high school career at St. Paul. The first was 2001 graduate, Liz Stitch. She earned herself 1,783 points in her four years at St. Paul. Fun fact, Liz Stitch holds the record for most points in the city of Bristol! It wouldn’t be until 9 years later, 2010 graduate, Chelsea Mone added her 1,031 points to that banner, making her the second person only in the school’s history to be added! Jump forward 10 years later in 2020, two teammates shared that honor of getting their name added to the banner! Graduates of 2020, Janessa Gonzalez added her 1,527 points and teammate Jade Udoh followed with 1,128 points to end their high school careers! 

 

CHAMPIONSHIPS

We all know how hard it may be to make that run to a State Championship, but St. Paul Catholic High School was able to make that run 23 times in the history of being open! St. Paul has championships in a variety of different sports from 1970 to 2022. Our most recent run at a State Championship was our baseball team in 2022 who defeated Somers to win the Class S State Championship 5-0! Take a look at our State Championships in St. Paul History:

• Indoor Track – 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
• Outdoor Track – 1971
• Baseball – 1971, 1972, 2016, 2022
• Boys Basketball – 1974, 1975, 1988
• Girls Basketball – 2001, 2010
• Boys Soccer – 1980, 1984
• Boys Tennis – 1982, 1983
• Golf – 1992, 1994

 

FALCON’S NEST

Welcome to the Falcon’s Nest! Get your game face on and those cheers ready for our sporting events both inside our Rev. Brian Monnerat Gymnasium or out on McPhee Field. Our Falcon’s Nest is best known for the creativity that goes into game days. Students have held white outs, blue outs, black outs and any color you can think of (wearing these color t-shirts), but some of the greatest nights have been Costume Night, Sports Night, Hawaiian Night, just to name a few.

For years, our Falcon’s Nest has been rising to the top with creativity, but one of the famous nights we have had in our history is costume night! Costumes ranging from Ninjas to Mario Cart, to setting up Sports Center! Our Falcon’s Nest is a chance for our students to come together as a community to cheer on and support our athletes on our court or on the field. Whether for a home game during a regular season or an away game in the semi-final of the state tournament, our Falcon’s Nest is present making a roar in the stands with that positive energy! GO FALCONS!

 

VOCATION IN THE PRIESTHOOD

Father Matthew Collins is a 2012 graduate of St. Paul Catholic High School! During his four years at St. Paul, Matthew was a member of the swim and track teams. In June of 2020, Matthew was ordained a transitional Deacon, which is the final step before priesthood. He then would return to his studies at Mount Saint Mary’s in Maryland to earn his graduate degree in theology studies.

The following year in June 2021, Matthew had his ordainment into the priesthood. Father Matthew Collins remembers his vocation story when he was just a young boy. He says “From the moment I received my First Holy Communion up until the point where I graduated from St. Paul Catholic High School, the thought of being a priest never left my mind,” he explained. “Upon receiving my diploma, walking down the aisle at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford, I had a Holy Spirit moment and I knew right then and there.” 

 

 

FAMOUS FOOD PREPARED AND SERVED BY STELLA

Who doesn’t love a good breakfast in the morning right before the start of school? What about a delicious cookie with your lunch? If you answered yes and oh yea, then you have to meet our famous Stella. Stella’s breakfasts and lunches are kind of famous and really good!

Come in to grab a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich or a bagel with cream cheese or even a toasted muffin! She serves up hot or cold lunch with many varieties. Hot lunches choices are her famous snack wraps, walking tacos and popcorn chicken bowls while her cold lunches range from sandwiches to salads!

Want a something extra with the lunch you brought? There are fruit bowls, celery sticks, carrot sticks, pita chips with hummus and more! But, there are two famous things Stella is known for….one is for her cookies! She serves chocolate chip or sugar cookies with sprinkles and the size of the cookie is worth it! Made fresh and sometimes gooey and hot from the oven! The second famous thing is our Stella Pancake Fridays! Every Friday, Stella and her team cook up giant pancakes for breakfast and they are not a disappointment! Students rant and rave about how good and how big these pancakes come out to be. So, when it’s Friday, don’t miss out on Pancake Friday’s during breakfast hours! 

 

DRAMA PROGRAM

The St. Paul Catholic High School Performing Arts program has been strong for many years under the direction of Mr. Mark Mazzarella.

Mark Mazzarella, a two time Tony Award Nominee for Excellence in Theatre Education and Emmy Award Winner has over 32 years of experience in the performing arts. Notably, for more than a decade Mark has been the director of St. Paul Performing Arts, an Award-Winning, and Nationally Recognized High School Theater Program. His career has spanned theater, television, and film. He has produced hundreds of productions including educational films, television, documentaries, and stage productions.

 

 

CLUBS and ACTIVITIES

Here’s a list of Clubs and Activities you can get involved in at St. Paul.  CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES

FUN ACTIVITIES

There are so many fun activities throughout the year here at St. Paul. Below is just a fraction of the events/activities.