Fenwick High School | |
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Address | |
505 W. Washington Blvd. Oak Park, Illinois 60302 United States |
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Coordinates | 41°52′52″N 87°47′19″W / 41.881°N 87.7886°WCoordinates: 41°52′52″N 87°47′19″W / 41.881°N 87.7886°W |
Information | |
Type | Secondary private |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Opened | 1929 |
Oversight | Archdiocese of Chicago |
President | Richard Peddicord, O.P. |
Dean | Raymond Moland |
Principal | Peter Groom |
Teaching staff | 73 |
Grades | 9–12 |
Gender | Coed |
Enrollment | 1,175 |
Campus | Suburban |
School colour(s) | Black & white |
Slogan | Veritas |
Athletics conference |
Chicago Catholic League & East Suburban Catholic Conference |
Nickname | Friars |
Average ACT scores | 28 |
Publication | Touchstone |
Newspaper | The Wick |
Yearbook | Blackfriars Yearbook |
Tuition | US$14,700 (base) |
Communities served | Oak Park, Illinois; River Forest, Illinois |
Affiliation | Dominicans |
Website | fenwickfriars |
Fenwick High School is a selective private college preparatory school located in Oak Park, Illinois, founded in 1929 as part of the Province of St. Albert the Great (Dominican Friars). It is the only school directly operated and staffed by the Catholic Order of Dominican friars in the United States. It is named in honor of Cincinnati Bishop Edward D. Fenwick.
Fenwick enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is ranked as one of the leading preparatory schools within the greater metropolitan Chicago area. Admittance is highly selective and based on testing administered at the school. Some of Fenwick's alumni include: a state governor, a NASA astronaut, Rhodes scholars, Pulitzer Prize winners, an Olympic gold medalist, a Heisman Trophy winner, professional athletes, as well as CEOs of many national and international corporations.
The school colors are black and white and the mascot is the Friar. Fenwick's president is Father Richard Peddicord, OP In 2009, the school's principal, Dr. James Quaid, Ed.D., left his 21-year tenure with Fenwick to become Associate Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Fenwick High School was founded as an all-boys college preparatory high school in 1929 by the Catholic Order of Dominican Fathers and Brothers of the Province of St. Joseph. Since its founding, Fenwick has maintained a strict dress code which includes slacks, dress shirts and ties for the boys and plaid skirts and knee-high socks for the girls. During assemblies, blazers must be worn. Fenwick was originally intended to be a prep school for matriculation to the University of Notre Dame in the Midwest and Georgetown University on the East Coast, similar to Phillips Academy Andover's matriculation to Yale, Portsmouth Abbey School's matriculation to Fordham University and Boston College and Phillips Exeter Academy's matriculation to Harvard. Today, Fenwick's students matriculate to many top American and international universities. In 1939, the St. Joseph Province was divided and Fenwick High School became part of the new Province of St. Albert the Great, with headquarters in Chicago. In 1992, girls were admitted for the first time. Today, Fenwick is known as a secondary school. Students use some athletic facilities, including a baseball field, two football fields, a softball diamond, and a soccer field on the campus of Fenwick's Dominican Priory in the nearby suburb of River Forest.