St. Joseph Central Catholic High School Profile (2020-2021)

St. Joseph Central Cahotlic High School (SJHS) is a private secondary school, grades 9th-12th, offering an advanced college preparatory curriculum.  Located in Huntington, West Virginia, SJHS is one of five high schools in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and is supported by the local Catholic parishes, family tuition, and third-source income. SJHS is dedicated to serving a diverse student population and, as such, provides an environment that nurtures the whole person by integrating faith and life. Consistent with our Catholic tradition, SJHS seeks to develop leaders who are rooted in Gospel values and committed to meeting the challenges of building a just society. Approximately 60% of students are Catholic.  Students attend from the Tri-State area (West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky) and from around the world. 

As a central Catholic high school, SJHS differs from the traditional parochial school model in that the school is not affiliated with one parish. Instead, it serves students from all the parishes within our Tri-State area.  We have two feeder middle schools in our Dioceses – Our Lady of Fatima Parish School and St. Joseph Catholic School.

Accreditation and Memberships:

• Cognia (AdvancEd) Accreditation
• West Virginia Board of Education (Policy 2330)
• National Catholic Education Association
• West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission

Academic Year:

2 semesters; 180 school days per year; 90-minute classes (Monday-Thursday); 4 classes per day; 45-minute classes on Friday; 8 classes per day

Faculty:

86% hold masters and doctorate level degrees; average teaching experience is 15 years; 100% are club sponsors and/or coaches, many in more than one capacity.  Student-teacher ratio is 8:1.

Virtual Academic Learning Environment:

The winter and spring months of the year bring school closings and make-up days that have proved disruptive to the school calendar and instructional programs for students.  Unscheduled closings compromise the quality of the learning process that we carefully and deliberately plan and prepare for our students. To maintain consistency in our curriculum and eliminate the need to extend school into the summer or cancel holidays or programs that are currently scheduled, we have implements the Virtual Learning Academic Learning Environment program.  A VALE day will count as a full school day, one of the 180 required by the State of West Virginia. 

Life at St. Joseph Central Catholic High School includes a variety of activities and service opportunities.  Participation in clubs, activities, and athletic teams is quite high, typically involving over 94% of the student body.

Athletics:

• Boys’ and girls’ cross country, soccer, cheerleading, basketball, swimming, track, tennis, golf
• Boys’ baseball
• Girls’ volleyball and softball

Service: 100%  of students are involved in volunteer service in our community.  Each year students contribute over 3,000 hours of service to the community outside of the school day.

Class Rank and GPAs: At St. Joseph Central Catholic High School all students follow a college preparatory curriculum.  All courses are included in the computation of the GPA.  Honors and Advanced Placement courses are weighted.   Placement in all courses is based on achievement, aptitude, and motivation.

Grading Scale:

• A = 93 – 100
• B = 85 – 92
• C = 77 – 84
• D = 69 – 76
• F = below 69

Academic Assessment:

• 100% of seniors continuing to a college/university take the SAT and/or ACT
• 100% of sophomores and juniors take the PSAT
• 100% of juniors participate in WV SAT school day
• 100% of freshmen and sophomores take NWEA Map Growth Assessment

Where Do Our Graduates Go?

The Class of 2021 graduates were offered over $3.6 million in scholarship money.  These students are attending: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Denison University, Marshall University, University of Charlotte North Carolina Greensboro, High Point University, Bethany College, Oklahoma State University, West Virginia University, Ohio State University, Virginia Tech, Mountwest Community & Technical College.

Senior Internships:

All seniors go out on a two-week internship in two careers fields of their choice.  During that time, they keep a journal documenting their week, along with photos.  Upon returning to school, students complete a presentation to the underclassmen detailing their experiences.  Internships often lead to summer jobs, excellent recommendations, and useful advice about their future.

Dual Credit Courses – Marshall University: SJHS offers over 40 hours of dual credit courses. These courses are available to junior and senior students to take as dual credit, which means they receive college credit through Marshall University at the same time they are receiving high school credit. The options are listed below (in bold) under “Courses and Graduation Requirements.”