Saint Thomas Aquinas High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Overland Park, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. The current chaplain is Fr. Matthew Nagle, the president is Bill Ford, and the principals are Brian Schenck, Craig Moss, and Mike Sullivan. Saint Thomas Aquinas is one of several private high schools located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The school colors are navy blue and old gold. The average annual enrollment is approximately 950 students.
The school was established in 1988 in order to accommodate the growing Roman Catholic population in south Johnson County. It is the successor to St. Joseph/Aquinas High School, which was originally located in the present-day Saint Joseph Early Education Center in Shawnee, Kansas.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 5A division and are known as the "Saints". The boys' soccer program has experienced considerable successes and has been named National Champions twice. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.
History
Boys of Fall Saints of Fall 2012 - Boys of Fall by Kenny Chesney with Saints football, Saint Thomas Aquinas Overland Park,KS.
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School was established in 1988 by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in order to accommodate for the growing Roman Catholic population in Overland Park. It is successor to Saint Joseph/Aquinas High School, which was originally located in the present-day Saint Joseph Early Education Center in Shawnee, Kansas.
Academics
In 2012, Aquinas was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award for excellence in education by the Department of Education. For the 2008-09 and 2009-2010 school years, St. Thomas Aquinas was recognized by the Kansas State Board of Education for achieving excellence in reading, writing and mathematics.
For classes beginning in 2011, 93 credits are required for graduation.
Extracurricular activities
Choir Program
Saint Thomas Aquinas has a total of five choirs. The Swingin' Saints (Mixed Show Choir), Saintsations (Girl's Show Choir), Girls Chorale, Concert Choir, and Chamber Choir. Concert Choir, Chamber, and Chorale have received multiple "One" ratings at the KSHSAA Large Group Contest. The two show choirs compete at competitions in Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska. The Show Choirs are choreographed by Emily Begnaud and Damon Brown.
Athletics
Saint Thomas Aquinas athletic teams are known as the Saints. They compete in the Eastern Kansas League and are members of the Kansas State High School Activities Association. The Saints have won two National Championships (boys' soccer, 1994 and 2009), 99 KSHSAA state championships, 56 state runner-up championships, and 265 league/district/regional/sub-state championships. That includes a record eight KSHSAA championships during the 2006-2007 school year.
Soccer
The Saints have won a combined 32 state championships in boys' and girls' soccer, which includes eight straight state titles for boys from 2003-2010 and seven straight state titles for the girls from 2010 to 2016. Additionally, the boys' team won the National Championship in 1994 and 2009 according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. After winning the National Championship in 2009, head coach Craig Ewing was honored as the NSCAA national boys coach of the year for private and parochial schools by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Ewing had twice previously been selected as the NSCAA’s girls soccer coach of the year.
The program has been considered a pipeline to several collegiate programs such as Drake, Marquette University, Rockhurst University, and Creighton. In addition, Saint Thomas Aquinas has produced two athletes who have gone on to compete professionally including Michael Thomas and Kyle Miller, formerly of Sporting Kansas City.
Cross country
The cross country program has been a state championship contender since the very first season. The girls team placed second at the 1988 4A championship and second in 5A in 1991.
In 2006, both teams won the state title. The Saints have repeated the state sweep in 2008, 2014, 2015, and 2016
The 2013 Aquinas girls team set an unbreakable record at the championship with a perfect score of 15 as all five Aquinas runners finished in the top five spots.
In 2015 the boys set the state meet record with a score of 22 points Aquinas runners taking the top four spots.
The girls team has finished as high as 3rd place at the Nike Cross Country Heartland Regionals. The boys best finish has been 7th.
Golf
The girls' golf team were the first Saints to win a KSHSAA championship, in the fall of 1992. They won again in 1996 and 1997. The Saints won in 2002, placed second in 2003 and 2004, then won six consecutive championships from 2007-2012 and have had multiple individual champions as well. The Saints placed third in 2013.
The boys' golf team placed second seven times from 1995-2006. The Saints finally won in 2007, repeated in 2008, won again in 2011, 2016, 2017 and has also produced individual state champions.
State Championships
Exchange programs
The school has an exchange program with Yonaga High School in Yonaga, Japan.
Notable alumni
- Riley Pint, professional baseball player in Colorado Rockies (MLB) organization
- Drake Dunsmore, former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL)
- Kyle Miller, former professional soccer player in Major League Soccer (MLS)
- Brian Smith, former professional football player in the NFL
- Michael Thomas, professional soccer player in MLS
- Lisa Kerney, professional sports broadcaster/anchor for ESPN
References
