Our Lady of the Hills Regional Catholic High School – Spring Update
Posted by:
Catholic News Agency
Topics:
OUR LADY OF THE HILLS REGIONAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL UPDATES
By: Sue Murphy, OLH Counselor and Susie McCalla, Faculty and Admissions Director
The educational challenge, the development of a love for learning, and the strengthening of moral character are goals OLH students find infectious and invigorating.
You may wonder what could cause such a positive stir among teenagers in this somewhat troubled twenty-first century. OLH faculty, staff, administration, parents, and students lead by example and strongly contribute to upholding our mottoāāOLH . . . Men and Women for Others.ā
At the close of the 2014 school year, grade 9-12 students logged approximately 13,000 hours of assistance to the needs of school, community, and the world. Below is just a small sampling of how OLH students exhibit their motto.
Individual and School Projects
Thanksgiving Baskets ā All OLH students save their money for a āThanksgiving Dinnerā shopping spree and delivery to approximately twenty deserving families of Kerr County.
Gifts Under the Christmas Tree ā All students were encouraged to bring gifts for orphans of the Dominican Republic. Sponsor: Katherine Harris, OLH Junior
Change Through OLH ā Ongoing nine-week competition between grade levels where students donate spare change to benefit whichever deserving community organization the grade level winners choose.
Childrenās Book Drive with book donations benefiting MOMās Center and Community Needs Council in Fredericksburg, TX. Sponsor: Maeve Junker, OLH Sophomore
OLH Student Councilā¦
Early in the school year the OLH Family was saddened as tragedy struck OLH Assistant Coach Joe Martinezās family when his son was critically injured in an automobile accident and faced months of hospitalization and rehabilitation.
To assist the family with expenses, OLH students raised approximately $2,500 by purchasing free dress days and contributing to a school-wide bake sale.
OLH Key Clubā¦
All-School Jean Drive benefiting St. Vincent de Paul, Christian Womenās Job Corps, and Pregnancy Resource Center
Valentines for Veterans – Over 100 Valentines made by OLH students delivered to our veterans at local VA Hospital
Adopt a Highway ā On-going
Recycling Program for OLH
Participated in Project Eliminate with Kiwanis Club International in providing funds to eradicate tetanus
40 Cans for Lent
OLH National Honor Societyā¦
Trick-or-Treat for canned goods for local food pantry
Bi-Annual Blood Drives ā Hundreds of lives saved through donations by OLH staff, students, and parents
Hosted Winter Formal for local retirement center
Honor our local Veterans with special assembly and refreshments
Fine Arts
Visual and performing arts at OLH is the āicing on the cake.ā Regional and state honors in theatre, art, and choir have been abundant throughout the years. Varied community organizations have come to rely on OLH performing arts for entertainment at club meetings.
Hawk Spirit Soars
High school athletic programs are crucial in molding students for meeting the unending demands of our society today and in the future. āIn my 30 years in the business world, I have found that what an athlete brings to the workplace is discipline, teamwork, a drive for success, the desire to be held accountable and a willingness to have their performance measured,ā says Steve Reinemund, former Chairman & CEO, of PepsiCo.
Through the years, all OLH sports teams (football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, track and cross country, swim team) continually strive to bring honor to our school and community by placing in varying levels in competitive events ā local, regional, and state. Through teaching and by example, OLH coaches are constantly instilling the above-mentioned admirable attributes in their teamsā players.
Academic Excellence
Research shows that the number one reason parents elect to entrust their children to a private school is the academic excellence, which also happens to be a major goal of principals of private schools.
As referenced by the Council for American Private Education, the following headlines in early October of this year captured some of the story : ā2014 SAT Scores Remain Stagnant,ā āStudent Performance Stalls on SAT.ā College Board itself reported: SAT scores for the 2014 crop of high school graduates were stubbornly stuck at levels āsimilar to other recent senior classes.ā
But the fixation on stagnation largely ignored another important element of the story: scores varied significantly by the type of school students attended. It turns out that students who graduated from religious and independent schools had scores that substantially outdistanced those of students in public schools and actually helped lift the national average.
SAT Scores for the Class of 2014
School | Reading | Math | Writing |
Independent | 535 | 580 | 542 |
Religious | 533 | 537 | 527 |
Public | 492 | 501 | 478 |
OLH | 555 | 537 | 537 |
Texas | 476 | 495 | 461 |
National Mean | 497 | 513 | 487 |
OLH has had twenty-four National Merit Scholars since we began entering the competition in 2007.
Located in Kerrville, Texas, the Heart of the Texas Hill Country, Our Lady of the Hills Regional Catholic High School welcomes and serves students from a wide range of ethnicities, financial situations, religious denominations, and cultures. If a student wants and needs to be at OLH, the monetary means to aid in attaining that goal is available through our local benefactors and Hope for the Future Scholarships.