Central Catholic High School history

Although boys’ basketball made its debut before football, the young Raiders opened their first football season in 1946.

Great Falls Central graduated it first class in 1952.

When the Sisters of Saint Joseph celebrated their centenary in Wheeling in 1953, Archbishop John Swint marked the occasion by announcing a diocesan drive for a new motherhouse for the Sisters.

At the beginning of the 1960’s, as enrollment at St Cecelia Catholic School in Clearwater grew, it became increasingly apparent that there was a need for a separate Catholic high school in Pinellas County.

Although CCHS boys and SJA girls had a new building, the dedication in March 1961 was that of a co-institutional establishment.

Clearwater Central Catholic High School (CCC) was founded in February 1962 with the groundbreaking of its first building, later named the Hurley Building.

In January of 1963, the sophomore class entered the new building for the first time.

In 1964, the first graduating class consisted of 26 students.

After Charles M. Russell High School opened in 1965 Central experienced a gradual drop in enrollment.

The following school year (1969-70), the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland opened Cleveland Central Catholic High School (CCC) with over 1,600 students on the campuses of the four founding schools.

Beginning in 1970, however, girls and boys shared the same classrooms as Central became coeducational.

The Marist Brothers continued to staff the school until 1972.

In 1973, due to financial concerns, Bishop Eldon Schuster painfully chose to close GFCCHS after graduation that year.

In 1978, Alumni Hall was completed, providing long-needed, expanded facilities for the physical education, intramural and athletic programs.

In 1995, a group of parents began the discussion of reopening Great Falls Central.

The process took approximately four years and in the fall of 1999, with the blessing of the Bishop, the plan to reopen GFCCHS was put into action.

In January 2000, GFCCHS hired its new principal, the initial school board was formed, the first group of teachers were hired and the recruiting of students to fill the 9th and 10th grade classes began.

During the next two years the 11th and 12th grade classes were developed with the first graduating class in 2003.

In the spring and summer of 2005, the auditorium received a $1.8-million renovation and restoration, the generous gift of John ’56 & Mary Ita McGonigle and their sons, Kevin ’82 and Michael ’85, and was named The McGonigle Theatre.

The new addition to the school opened in 2006.

The Clifford E. Brown Library, opened in 2008, provides students and faculty an ideal atmosphere for study and research.

Through a partnership with the City of Cleveland, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and the Third Federal Foundation, Central Catholic opened a new athletic facility in 2010.

The Sisters of Saint Joseph continued to teach at CCHS until 2011, at which time the administration of the school and the faculty became entirely lay men and women.

During the summer of 2017, the former faculty room was remodeled into the De La Salle Center, a dedicated guidance and counseling center that is also home to our Lasallian Ministry and for the first time in Central Catholic’s history, a dedicated oratory.

Celebrating the Class of 2021(opens in new window/tab)