Friends,

In this busy month, we have been supremely blessed to welcome all of our students back on campus. The excitement of our boys is palpable in the classroom, on the fields and stages, and even just walking over from the train station. We are experiencing a life renewed and restored. And tomorrow, we will all gather as one group for the first time in fourteen months to celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord on McCoy Field.

As I ponder the wonder of the Ascension, my mind turns toward our seniors who will be graduating next Saturday. Like Christ, these young men will be leaving our physical space, but their spirit will not. Our school has been forever inspired by their dedication and fortitude. As leaders in their studies, in their sports, co-curriculars, and ministries they served as the glue that held our school together in this unprecedented year.

Their leadership, maturity, and tenacity served as an example to younger students and provided a foundation for our faculty and staff to pivot with incredible success. Even as they leave Morrissey Boulevard, setting off to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world, their spirit remains inseparable from our community - a community which they will soon proudly join as alumni. Please join me in congratulating and praying for the Class of 2021 in this exciting time!

AMDG,

Grace Regan P'12

Please join me in congratulating members of the Class of 2021, who have been accepted to more than 200 colleges and universities across the country! To view the full list, click here.

Eagles, do you want to be featured? Send a photo and tell us what you're excited about/why you chose your new school at externalrelations@bchigh.edu.

As we finish an exciting Enrollment season and look forward to welcoming an amazing group of new Eagles to campus next fall, we wanted to share some interesting facts and figures from our largest incoming class in a decade. I am grateful to the Enrollment team for their personal approach in recruiting prospective students and families to BC High. The future is incredibly bright for these young men, and I can't wait to see them thrive next year.

The Shields Innovation Challenge inspired nearly 30 submissions and led to 20 team interviews with panelists including President Stephen Spinelli Jr. of Babson College, Raj Echambadi, Dunton Family Dean of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, former Governor Jane Swift, and Don Gummow '13, Innovation & Operations Analyst at Brigham & Women's iHub Open Innovation Studio. They were remarkably impressed with the student presentations, deep understanding of their project, and most importantly, their embrace of the “fail fast and iterate” mentality that governs the work of innovation.

 

We’d like to thank our faculty leaders James Hutchison, Margaret Scanlon, Katie McKiernan, and Colleen O’Hara who enthusiastically put together the Shields Innovation Challenge in record time and created the framework for a program that we are excited to continue next year.

 

We have two top winners receiving a cash prize and two winners that we are proud to name as well. The award for best Arrupe showing goes to Elite: Brandon Miranda, Anthony Edwards, and Hank Shertenlieb, who sought to address healthy food options in Boston neighborhoods and to begin to lower the obesity rate of those neighborhoods.

  

The Faculty Honorable Mention goes to Queering Schools: How Introducing LGBTQ+ Curriculum Will Help Form a More Accepting School, John Sullivan, Liam Turner, James Delaney, and Hoa Ly

 

With our second highest scoring team, receiving $500 each The Healthy Food Initiative: Yasin Khan ’22, John Forry ’22, Ricky Robinson ’22, and Charlie Reitz ’22. The Healthy Food Initiative looks to partner with an organization to run a Farmer’s Market with leftover healthy foods from restaurants, hospitals, grocery stores, etc. and distribute fresh food to the local Dorchester community, in particularly poor and underserved neighborhoods.

And, the winner of the inaugural Shields Innovation Challenge, receiving $1000 each – the top scoring team goes to Vert: Matthew Hurley ’23, Tyler Kwong ’23, Marvin Le ’23, and Nico Bezzerides ’23. Through vertical hydroponics, they seek to grow nutrient rich foods in order to provide healthy options to impoverished people.

The Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies has selected Boston College High School as one of only twelve high schools worldwide to craft reflections for the Journey with Ignatius app (available on Android and iOS) honoring The Ignatian Year – the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius’ conversion from soldier to pilgrim.

The app features a 12-week virtual pilgrimage that allows “pilgrims” to follow in the footsteps of the founder of the Society of Jesus from his years as a young page in Arevalo, Spain to his final days as Superior General of the Jesuits in Rome, Italy. Pilgrims engage with a particular theme and location each week through St. Ignatius’ own writings, insights from selected Jesuit sources, and invitations to programs on Ignatian spirituality all while joining a community of prayer.

Seven BC High students crafted written and recorded reflections under the direction of Mrs. Jennifer Manning, religion teacher and program leader of the Michael D. White ‘70 Center for Emerging Leaders, and Fr. Patrick Nolan, SJ, assistant director of enrollment and chaplain to athletics.

These seven students considered the theme of “departure” as part of the fourth week of the virtual pilgrimage, which focuses on the Hermitage of Olatz, where St. Ignatius stopped to pray as he sought a new path of holiness after recuperating from his leg injuries sustained at the Battle of Pamplona.

Six of the students (Johan Almanzar ’22, Colton Begley ’22, Sam Burns ’22, Kevin Camy ’22, Johnny Duddy ’22, Michael Cairo ’23) selected to offer reflections are members of the inaugural cohort of the Michael D. White ‘70 Center for Emerging Leaders. The seventh student (Sebastian Ortiz Gonzalez ’25) represents the Arrupe Division.

Last week, we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and Nurses Appreciation Day with desserts and pastries from Tatte Bakery on the sunny front lawn in gratitude for each member of our faculty and staff. Their vocations make our community what it is - thank you!

The Spring season is off to an exciting start as our Eagles on Varsity Lacrosse, Baseball, Volleyball, and Tennis have posted impressive wins over rivals Xaverian and Catholic Memorial. Lacrosse opened their season with a dominant 17-2 win over CM and followed up by besting a tough Xaverian team 12-8 yesterday. On the baseball field, Shea Sprague '21 threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 win against CM. Both Tennis and Volleyball remain undefeated, and Volleyball has yet to drop a set to an opposing team.

Follow BC High Athletics on Twitter to stay updated and receive Livestream links for away games. Follow us on Facebook or Livestream for a full slate of home games.

With summer right around the corner, we are already making plans for the next academic year - and we want to hear from you! Below is a link to a short survey for you to complete so we can learn about your BC High parent experience, as well as what new programs and events you would be interested in seeing offered. To be sure your feedback is included, please submit the survey no later than Wednesday, May 19. If English is not your preferred language, please click here for instructions on how to translate the survey.

Thank you for your continued investment in BC High and your son’s future. If you have any questions, please contact Julia Budde, Associate Director of Family Engagement and Giving, at (617) 474-5048 or email jbudde@bchigh.edu.

The Advancement Office is excited to welcome our alumni to BC High Connect, an online portal for graduates to network with one another. There, you'll discover new features including:

Questions? Reach out to Mike O'Brien, Senior Director of Alumni & Family Engagement & Annual Giving, at mobrien@bchigh.edu or 617-474-5038.