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Cardinal Spellman High School
Cardinal Spellman High School
Address
738 Court Street Brockton, (Plymouth County), Massachusetts 02302 United States
Coordinates	•42°5′35.0″N 70°59′35.2″W / 42.093056°N 70.993111°W / 42.093056; -70.993111
Information
Type	Private, coeducational
Motto	Sequere Deum ("Follow God")
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1958
Authority	Independent
President	Daniel Hodes
Chairperson	Kevin Kelley
Head of school	Daniel Hodes
Chaplain	Joe Nickley
Faculty	52
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	500 (2021)
Campus	Suburban
Campus size	42 Acres
Color(s)	Cardinal red and goldenrod
Athletics conference	Catholic Central League
Sports	Football, boys'/girls' soccer, boys'/girls' cross country, boys'/girls' golf, girls' volleyball, cheerleading, indoor winter track, boys'/girls' basketball, boys'/girls' swimming, hockey, baseball, softball, spring track, boys'/girls' tennis, lacrosse
Mascot	The Cardinal Crazy
Team name	Cardinals
Rival	Archbishop Williams High School, Abington High School
Accreditation	New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Publication	Tradition Magazine
Newspaper	The Daily Cardinal
Tuition	$18,650 (2024-25)
Affiliation	National Catholic Educational Association
Website	www.spellman.com

Cardinal Spellman High School is a private college preparatory high school of Catholic denomination established in 1958 and located in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States. Like the school's fellow Catholic school and sports rival, Archbishop Williams High School, Spellman separated from the Boston Archdiocese in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal. The school is named after Cardinal Francis Spellman.

History

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Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, officiated at the dedication of Cardinal Spellman High School on October 20, 1958. He blessed its buildings and laid the cornerstone during the ceremony. The school was named in honor of Francis Cardinal Spellman, whose birthplace was in the neighboring town of Whitman, Massachusetts. "Sequere Deum - Follow God" was taken from Francis Cardinal Spellman's coat of arms and used as the school's motto.

In September 1958, 300 students began their school careers as students at Cardinal Spellman with Sister M. Vera, CSJ as the founding Principal and a faculty of ten Sisters of Saint Joseph of Boston. Many Sisters worked at Cardinal Spellman over the years. There are no longer any Sisters of Saint Joseph currently working at Spellman. The last one, Sr. Patricia Lynch, left in July 2012.

On December 6, 1963, Cardinal Spellman High School, along with several other secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Boston, was incorporated as a member of the Archdiocesan Central High Schools, Inc. In 1979, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges awarded Cardinal Spellman High School its initial accreditation; in 1989 and again in 1999, the school was re-accredited for successive ten-year periods. Cardinal Spellman High School was elected as a permanent member of the College Board in 1983. The school is also affiliated with the National Catholic Educational Association.

Cardinal Spellman High School was incorporated in January 2004 after the board of trustees of the Archdiocesan Central High Schools, Inc., determined that each of its schools would be best served by becoming an independent public juridic institution governed by its own board of trustees. Beginning on September 1, 2004, Spellman's board of trustees took over the responsibility of governing the school.

Scandals

Prostitution Incident

In 2013, Monsignor Arthur Coyle, a member of Spellman's board of trustees and former chaplain of the school from 1985 to 1992, was charged with soliciting a prostitute. Coyle was arrested when he was found with a prostitute behind a Lowell cemetery. Coyle was subsequently removed from Spellman's board of trustees, after other members of the board learned of Coyle's arrest from local news outlets.

Sexual Abuse Incident

In 2016, The Boston Globe reported that, seven years prior, Spanish teacher Gustavo Perez began a sexual relationship with his seventeen-year-old female student. At the time, the student's parents found evidence of the teacher's relationship with their daughter, including a hotel receipt and graphic photos. Spellman fired the teacher after administrators saw the photos. The case brought to light controversy over Massachusetts laws governing age of consent and sexual relationships between teachers and students.

Athletics

Peter Ambrose, a longtime football and baseball coach at Cardinal Spellman, won 628 games in 50 years on the diamond before retiring, making him one of four Massachusetts high school baseball coaches to win 600 games. He also captured 12 Catholic Central League championships and one Eastern Mass. Championship. Coaching football, he won 211 games in 41 years, as well as 12 league titles and one Super Bowl appearance. He retired in 2010.

The fall season in 2011 was particularly impressive for Cardinals sports teams. Spellman won five Catholic Central titles and had a combined record of 79-15-1.

In 2019, Spellman installed its first artificial turf field on Potvin Field.

Titles

Drama

Spellman is recognized locally for its outstanding drama program. Robert J. McEwan, a longtime teacher at Spellman and chair of the English department for 47 years, established the school's first drama department in 1965, opening the school's first production of The King and I to a full house. McEwan went on to direct 47 musicals and 35 "Spring Shows," annual productions that frequently featured alumni, parents, and teachers as well as students.

Spellman established the Robert J. McEwan Drama Hall of Fame in 1996. Since its inception, it has inducted over 100 alumni, teachers, staff members, parents, and other friends of Spellman, honoring their contributions to the drama program both on and off the stage. Though McEwan died in 2013, his legacy continues through the flourishing drama program that he created. In 2015, the school honored McEwan by dedicating the renovated auditorium foyer in his name.

Notable alumni

• John Altieri – singer and stage actor
• Paul Antonelli – composer and music director
• Suzanne M. Bump – Massachusetts State Auditor, state representative and state secretary of labor emeritus
• Jane Condon – comedian, winner of Last Comic Standing
• Hon. Mark Gildea – Massachusetts Superior Court justice
• Christine Hurley – comedian
• the late Thomas P. Kennedy – former Massachusetts state representative and state senator
• the late John E. Walsh – former chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party

References

1. NEASC-CIS. "NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools". Archived from the original on 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
2. "Home - Cardinal Spellman High School".
3. "Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church / The financial cost".
4. "Explore Cardinal Spellman High School". Niche. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
5. "Explore Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, MA". GreatSchools.org. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
6. "Rev. Arthur Coyle, high-ranking Mass. priest, arrested after he was allegedly found with a prostitute". CBS News.
7. "Prostitution charge against former Brockton and Avon priest 'a shocker'". Wicked Local.
8. "Across region, outdated sex abuse laws have loopholes - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
9. "Cardinal Spellman (Brockton, MA) High School Sports - Football, Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, and more | MaxPreps". www.maxpreps.com. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
10. ^ "Cardinal Spellman receives Globe's Nason award - Schools - Boston.com". Archived from the original on 2012-12-31.
11. "Spellman breaks ground on new turf field! | post".
12. ^ "Title & Championship History". spellman.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
13. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Official site

v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
Ordinaries	Bishops Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus Benedict Joseph Fenwick John Bernard Fitzpatrick Archbishops John Joseph Williams William Henry O'Connell Richard Cushing Humberto Sousa Medeiros Bernard Francis Law Seán Patrick O'Malley Richard Henning Auxiliary bishops Cristiano Borro Barbosa Robert Francis Hennessey Mark William O'Connell Robert Philip Reed Peter J. Uglietto Emeriti bishops John Anthony Dooher Arthur L. Kennedy Deceased Joseph Gaudentius Anderson Thomas Francis Markham Emilio S. Allué Francis Xavier Irwin Walter James Edyvean
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Priests	John P. Brennan Charles A. Finn Gerald Fitzgerald John Geoghan George Kerr Philip King Mimie Pitaro Patrick O'Beirne Dennis J. O'Donovan Paul Fitzpatrick Russell Paul Shanley Henry A. Walsh
Other	The Pilot (archdiocese newspaper) CatholicTV Regina Cleri Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal
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