Aquinas High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The school is part of La Crosse Aquinas Catholic Schools and is operated by the Diocese of La Crosse.

In 2008, Aquinas High School was named a national Blue Ribbon School.

History

The high school was dedicated on September 2, 1928, in honor of Thomas Aquinas by Bishop Alexander Joseph McGavick of the Diocese of La Crosse. The first graduating class of 1929 consisted of four girls. The high school was originally staffed by diocesan clergy and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

Diocesan Bishop John Joseph Paul, an Aquinas alumnus of the class of 1935, set aside some rooms at Aquinas High School for the Aquinas Middle School in 1992. In 1997, the Bishop Burke Hall addition to Aquinas High School was dedicated in honor of Bishop Raymond Leo Burke, now the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Vatican City and a former religion teacher at Aquinas High School.

School crest

The Aquinas High School crest, designed in 1942, first appeared in the yearbook, the Trumpet, and on the 1943 class rings. It features the cross in a central and prominent position on the crest, reflecting the importance of the faith and redemption it symbolizes; ΧΡ, the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, signifying that the life of a Christian should be centered around Christ; the fleur-de-lis, the symbol of sanctity and virtue, symbolizing God, man's final end, and the Blessed Virgin, model of virtue; a lamp of learning and books, as symbols of knowledge and learning; a laurel, symbolizing reward; and lilies of the valley, symbolizing humility.

Sports

The school competes in the Mississippi Valley Conference and the WIAA with baseball, basketball, cross country, dance, football, golf, gymnastics, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling teams. The school's hockey team is a co-op team composed of students from Aquinas, Holmen High School, Luther High School, and Coulee Christian High School.

WIAA state champion titles:

• Alpine ski: 2000
• Boys baseball: 2017, 2021, 2024
• Boys basketball: 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013
• Boys Track & Field: 2019, 2021
• Boys Cross country: 2007, 2018, 2019, 2020
• Football: 2007, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Girls basketball: 2018, 2019
• Girls golf: 2017
• Girls soccer: 2015

Affiliation

• Aquinas Catholic Schools (formerly Coulee Catholic School)
• National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA)
• Greater La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce
• Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC)
• Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA)
• Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association (WISAA)
• Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference (CWCC)
• North Central Accrediting Association

Principals

• Father Hilary Leuther, 1928–1936
• Father Joseph Kundinger, 1936–1940, 1946–1951
• Father John Prizl, 1940–1946
• Father Alfred Hebert, 1951–1952
• Father Robert Hansen, 1952–1960
• Father Richard Rossiter, 1960–1964
• Father James O'Connell, 1964–1972
• Father Robert Altmann, 1972–1990
• James Vail, 1990–1997
• Jeffrey Brengman, 1997–2001
• Father John McHugh, 2001–2002
• Joan Leonard, 2002–2004
• Philip Hahn, 2004–2006
• Patrick Burkhart, 2006–2007
• Ted Knutson, 2007–2016
• Denise Ring, 2016–2022
• Andrew Bradley, 2022–present

Notable faculty

• Ann Walsh Bradley, Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, former religion teacher at Aquinas High School
• Raymond Leo Burke, teacher of religion at Aquinas High School prior to becoming bishop, archbishop, and cardinal.
• George Albert Hammes, teacher at Aquinas High School prior to becoming bishop

Notable alumni

See also

• La Crosse Central High School
• La Crosse Logan High School
• Onalaska High School
• Holmen High School
• West Salem High School
• Luther High School