Aquinas High School (Wisconsin)


Aquinas High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

History

The high school was dedicated on September 2, 1928, in honor of Thomas Aquinas by Bishop Alexander Joseph McGavick of the Diocese of La Crosse. The first graduating class of 1929 consisted of four girls. The high school was originally staffed by diocesan clergy and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
Diocesan Bishop John Joseph Paul, an Aquinas alumnus of the class of 1935, set aside some rooms at Aquinas High School for the Aquinas Middle School in 1992. In 1997, the Bishop Burke Hall addition to Aquinas High School was dedicated in honor of Bishop Raymond Leo Burke, now the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Vatican City and a former religion teacher at Aquinas High School. In 2008, Aquinas High School was named a national Blue Ribbon School.
Aquinas High School is part of the La Crosse Aquinas Catholic Schools.

School crest

The Aquinas High School crest, designed in 1942, first appeared in the yearbook, the Trumpet, and on the 1943 class rings. It features the cross, which holds the central and most prominent position on the crest, reflecting the importance of the faith and redemption of which it is a symbol; ΧΡ, the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, signifying that the life of a Christian should be centered around Christ; the fleur-de-lis, the symbol of sanctity and virtue, symbolizing God, man's final end, and the Blessed Virgin, model of virtue; a lamp of learning and books, as symbols of knowledge and learning; a laurel, symbolizing reward; and lilies of the valley, symbolizing humility.

Sports

The school took the Division III state championship in boys' basketball in 2008 and again in 2011, 2013 and the Division II state title in boys' basketball in 2003. In 2007 it won the Division III state championship in boys' spring baseball, Division III state championship in cross country, and the Division 5 state championship in football. The girls' soccer team was Division III state runner-up in 2005. In 2015 the Blugolds were State Champions beating Lake Country Lutheran in a shootout. They made their second straight WIAA State tournament appearance in 2016 finishing as runner up to The Prairie School. In 2017 the girls soccer team made a 3rd straight WIAA State soccer appearance in 2017 after winning the MVC title with an undefeated record for the 2nd year in a row. The girls' tennis team was runner up in 2000 and the boys' was runner up in 2002. In 2000, the boys' alpine ski team won the state championship. In 2016, the Aquinas girls volleyball team won the MVC title, losing only one set, cementing themselves as the best team in the MVC. The team went on to win a regional title, sectional title and was the schools first volleyball team to make the Wisconsin State Volleyball Tournament as part of the WIAA. In 2018 the girls basketball team won their first WIAA division 4 state championship. In 2019, they went back to back winning a second D4 title. In 2019 they also won the title for State Champions in Cross Country in D3.

Affiliation