Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School is a private

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 Roman Catholic high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 located in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. It is commonly abbreviated VASJ. It was formed by the 1990 merger of Villa Angela Academy (all girls) and St. Joseph High School (all boys). It is run by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. The two religious orders that the main values that Villa Angela-St. Joseph is based on are the Society of Mary and the Ursulines

Ursulines

The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...

.

Villa Angela Academy

Villa Angela Academy was founded in 1850 by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland, making it the oldest Catholic school in the Diocese of Cleveland. The school moved to the shores of Lake Erie in 1878 and into a new building in 1972. Their athletic teams were nicknamed the Skylarks (Larks) Villa Angela Academy had over 6,000 graduates.

St. Joseph High School

St. Joseph High School was opened in 1950. Bishop Edward Francis Hoban

Edward Francis Hoban

Edward Francis Hoban was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Rockford and Bishop of Cleveland .-Biography:...

 had asked the Society of Mary (Marianists) from Dayton, Ohio

Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...

 to administer the school. The school's mascot was the Viking due to the school's proximity to Lake Erie. St. Joseph has over 10,000 graduates.

Villa Angela - St. Joseph High School

In 1988, the Diocese announced plans to merge these two schools into a new co-educational school that would serve the needs of the east side of Cleveland. The new school would keep both schools' names and traditions. It would be named "Villa Angela - St. Joseph High School" and be located at the St. Joseph building. The mascot would remain the Viking. Since the school opened in 1990, students, faculty and staff of VASJ work together to endow their school with a distinctive personality characterized by Christian family spirit, racial and cultural tolerance and harmony, spirit of fair play and a serious pursuit of academic and spiritual excellence.

Mission statement

Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School is a Catholic, comprehensive, co-educational high school committed to high academic achievement and development of student gifts. Rooted in Ursuline

Ursuline

The word Ursuline is used to describe the following:* The Ursulines, a Catholic religious order.Several schools named after the Ursuline religious order, including several named Ursuline Academy.Ursuline Academy or similar may refer to:...

 and Marianist traditions of education, Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School strives to bring each student to a deeper commitment to Jesus Christ and Gospel values.

Academics

For the 2011-2012 academic year, VASJ had several academic programs including:

• College Preparatory Program
• Honors/Advanced Placement Program
• Technical Courses
• General Skills Program
• Learning disability
  Learning disability
  Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
  
   Program

Athletics

VASJ competes in Ohio High School Athletic Association

Ohio High School Athletic Association

The Ohio High School Athletic Association is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio...

 (OHSAA) and the North Coast League

North Coast League

The North Coast League is a high school athletic conference for Catholic schools in Greater Cleveland, Ohio.-Member schools:The North Coast League was founded by six parochial high schools in 1984. Its original members were Cleveland Central Catholic, Holy Name. Lake Catholic, Padua Franciscan,...

.

State championships

• Boys Basketball - 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995
• Girls Basketball - 1999
• Cheerleading - 2006, 2010
• Boys Cross Country – 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969
• Football – 1989
• Girls Volleyball - 2001, 2005
• Wrestling – 1990

In addition, St. Joseph/VASJ student-athletes have won 18 individual state championships in indoor and outdoor track, and in wrestling.

Sports Offered

• Baseball
  Baseball
  Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
  
   (boys)
• Basketball
  Basketball
  Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
  
   (boys & girls)
• Cheerleading
  Cheerleading
  Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
  
   (girls)
• Cross Country
  Cross country running
  Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
  
  (Boys & girls)
• Football
  American football
  American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
  
  (boys)
• Golf
  Golf
  Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
  
   (coed)
• Ice hockey
  Ice hockey
  Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
  
   (boys)
• Soccer (boys & girls)
• Softball
  Softball
  Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
  
   (girls)
• Track
  Track and field
  Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
  
   (boys & girls)
• Volleyball
  Volleyball
  Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
  
   (boys & girls)
• Wrestling
  Wrestling
  Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
  
   (boys)

Notable alumni

Football

• London Fletcher
  London Fletcher
  London Levi Fletcher-Baker is an American football linebacker who has played for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League since 2007. Undrafted in 1998, he was signed by the St. Louis Rams as a rookie free agent, where he spent four seasons. In 2002, he was signed to the Buffalo...
  
   - 1993
• Bob Golic
  Bob Golic
  Robert Perry "Bob" Golic is a retired American football player, as well as a television and radio personality. He played as a defensive tackle who played for the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and the Los Angeles Raiders in the NFL.Golic played high school football at St...
  
   - 1975
• Mike Golic
  Mike Golic
  Michael Louis "Mike" Golic is a co-host of ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning and a former defensive lineman at Notre Dame and in the NFL. The NFL website lists him as and ....
  
   - 1981
• Elvis Grbac
  Elvis Grbac
  Elvis M. Grbac is a retired American football quarterback who played in the NFL. During his career he was a starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens...
  
   - 1988
• Desmond Howard
  Desmond Howard
  Desmond Kevin Howard is a former NFL wide receiver, punt returner, and kickoff returner.He played football for the University of Michigan from 1989–1991 and won the Heisman Trophy in 1991...
  
   - 1988
• Andy Cannavino
  Andy Cannavino
  Andrew J. "Andy" Cannavino is a retired American football linebacker. He played for the University of Michigan from 1977 to 1980. He became one of the leading tacklers in Michigan history, played in the 1981 Rose Bowl and was the only unanimous selection as a first-team player on the 1980...
  
   - 1977

Basketball

• Kevin Edwards
  Kevin Edwards
  Kevin Durell Edwards is a retired American professional basketball player who currently serves as DePaul University men's basketball team's director of community, corporate, and professional relations. Edwards was selected by the Miami Heat with the 20th overall pick of the 1988 NBA Draft...
  
   - 1983
• Clark Kellogg
  Clark Kellogg
  Clark Clifton Kellogg, Jr. is the VP of player relations for the Indiana Pacers as well as the lead college basketball analyst for CBS Sports and former player in the National Basketball Association.-High School:...
  
   - 1979
• Stan Kimbrough
  Stan Kimbrough
  Stan Kimbrough is a retired American professional basketball player.The 5'11" and 153 lb point guard attended both the University of Central Florida and Xavier University...
  
   - 1984
• David Lighty
  David Lighty
  David Maurice Lighty, Jr. is an American basketball player for Bennet Cantu of Italy in the Euroleague. Lighty played college basketball for at Ohio State.-High school years:...
  
   - 2006
• Eric Riley
  Eric Riley
  Eric Riley is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2nd round of the 1993 NBA Draft. Riley played for the Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics in five NBA seasons, averaging 3.1...
  
   - 1988

Politics

• Mary Jo Kilroy
  Mary Jo Kilroy
  Mary Jo Kilroy is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party from Ohio. In her first term she introduced a bill to lend $20 million per year to small businesses and an amendment to assign liability to credit reporting agencies. She...
  
  - 1967