Christian Brothers College High School


Christian Brothers College High School is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory school for young men in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis and is owned and operated by the De La Salle Christian Brothers Midwest District.

History

Early years (1850–1916)

The school was founded in 1850 under the name St. Joseph's Academy by three French-speaking Christian Brothers who had come to St. Louis the previous year from Montreal, Quebec. In 1851, the school moved from its original location at 16th and Market Streets to 8th and Cerre Streets in downtown St. Louis, and the name changed to the "Academy of the Christian Brothers." In December 1855, the school was granted a college charter, becoming the Brothers' first U.S. institution to operate at the collegiate level.
In 1882, due to lack of space, the school moved to the "Cote Brilliante" campus in north St. Louis on the northeast corner of Easton Ave. and N. Kingshighway, where it served as a primary, secondary, and college boarding school for boys. At one point in the 1890s, more than half of St. Louis' clergy were graduates of CDC. On October 5, 1916, a fire destroyed the school, killing seven firefighters, two sick Brothers, and a nurse. Washington University allowed CBC to use the former Smith Academy building for the rest of the academic year.

Hi-Pointe campus (1922–2003)

For several years, the brothers taught in parochial schools until a new "Christian Brothers College High School" was built at University Lane and Clayton Road in Clayton's Hi-Pointe neighborhood. The school building was opened in 1922 and enlarged several times over the following decades to accommodate increasing enrollment.
CBC was also home to an Army JROTC program. In earlier years, JROTC was mandatory, but it later became a voluntary program, and was disbanded in 1993 due to low enrollment. In 1998, the CBC Board of Directors announced that the school would abandon the city of St. Louis, this time to a new campus in West St. Louis County, eight miles west of the Clayton campus.

2003–present

The current campus is located at the northwest corner at the intersection of I-64 and I-270, close to Missouri Baptist University. The first academic year at the new location was 2003–04. In January 2006, CBC announced plans to begin drug testing all of its students. The school became the first private school in the West St. Louis area to implement such testing, and the proposal received widespread press coverage. CBC started its drug testing program in the 2007–08 academic year.

Athletics

School mascot

The mascot from the inception of inter-collegiate athletics at CBC until 1916 was the Collegians. The team was known as the Hi-Pointers during the early years on Clayton Road through the 1950s; the name derives from the Hi-Pointe neighborhood in Clayton where CBC was located from 1922–2003. The team was unofficially renamed the Cadets after the students when CBC began mandatory JROTC training in the 1930s. The name became official in 1958 and the Cadets logo was created in 1993 by Jason Buford.

Athletic Grounds

Klemm Field at W. Michael Ross '66 Stadium
Prominently viewed off of I-64 on the Town and Country campus is W. Michael Ross Stadium, a 3,000 seat Multi-Purpose stadium hosting Football, Soccer, Lacrosse and Ultimate. Carved into the southern hill of the campus, Ross Stadium is known for its dusk time shadows and sun rays during early season football games. It also prominently features a rock "CBC" on the grandstand hillside, similar to the University of Missouri "M". Klemm Field in 2012 became a "Championship Field". The turf that was used to replace the original surface is from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and hosted the BCS National Championship and several Bowl Games.
Cadet Park
CBC's practice fields are called "Cadet Park"; it has enough room for about 2 football fields. CBC's tennis courts are also here.
Mike Shannon Stadium at Cadet Park
Mike Shannon Stadium is CBC's baseball stadium. The team began playing games there for 2013. Before, the project began CBC's varsity team played at Missouri Baptist University.

Metro Catholic Conference

CBC is a chartered member of the Metro Catholic Conference. The MCC, sometimes known as "The Big 5," was formed in 1992 and includes Chaminade College Preparatory School, De Smet Jesuit High School, St. John Vianney High School, and SLUH.

Championships

;National collegiate championships
;Team state championships
The CBC Hockey team won 130 straight games from 2002-03 to the 2006 season final.
CBC Football has had 3 consecutive undefeated seasons in 1961, 1962 and 1963, before the state title in Missouri was established.
;Collegiate Level
;1904 Summer Olympic Games
The Cerre Players, headed by Thomas Murray and Ed Goetz, are noted for performance- plays and musicals that have included High School Musical On Stage!, A Few Good Men, Urinetown, Les Miserables, Footloose, Jesus Christ Superstar, Beauty and the Beast, Crazy for You, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Oklahoma!, and . Murray completed his 100th production at CBC with Little Shop of Horrors.
The new theatre, Gundaker Theater, opened in 2003 when CBC relocated to the West County campus.
The CBC Music Program is made up of, as a whole, the "Band of Brothers". Its focus is primarily Jazz and Rock style music. The choral program, comprises "The Cadet Chorus" and the premier group "Brothers in Harmony". The CBC Drum-line. the line is noted for novelty cadences like "Canosaurus" and "High Voltage". The Band of Brothers, Brothers in Harmony and the Drum-line are CBC's primary performing and touring groups. CBC also offers classes in Piano, Guitar, Music Practicum and a Beginning Band

Notable alumni

Arts

Tom Howe

Other