Bishop Blanchet Highschool
Bishop Blanchet High School
Founded 1955
OUR LEGACY - No one can properly evaluate the flourishing growth of the Archdiocese of Seattle without giving due credit to Bishop Blanchet. It took a man of faith, constant hope, and overwhelming love for God and mankind to undertake the gigantic task of bringing Christ to the Northwest. The Depression years, succeeded by the war years with their scarcity of building materials,limited Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy to the establishment of one parish, Our Lady of the Lake. Not unmindful of the demands that would come with post-war living, he began to acquire property for a proposed high school. Coming to Seattle as Coadjutor-Bishop, the Most Rev. Thomas A. Connolly,D.D., J.C.D., soon realized the inadequacy of previous plans due to the increased development over the entire area. Wisely, he set about acquiring sufficient property for four new parishes, while adding to the property already proposed for the high school.
This goal done, for over a year Archbishop Connolly devoted himself to the task of planning the new school. Construction began in February of 1954. However, unforeseen difficulties developed in the summer, and the South Wing could not be occupied in September 1954, as planned. Fr. Joseph Agius, O.P., Pastor of Blessed Sacrament, with the priests, sisters, and parishioners, graciously and unselfishly made provisions to house the first class from September, 1954, to May, 1955, when the 231 freshmen boys and girls moved to the South Wing of the new building. During the summer, construction moved ahead and the new building was available for use during the scholastic year, l955-56. As institutions go, the history of Bishop Blanchet is a brief one, but its heritage of faith and spirit of hope for the future are those that Bishop Blanchet brought to his diocese over one hundred years ago. OUR DESTINY - Bishop Blanchet is Seattle’s first co-educational Catholic high school and is located at the north end of Green Lake. The student body consists of over 1,000
students in grades nine through twelve. Most students come from Archdiocesan elementary schools, representing a broad geographic area. Strongly committed to providing an academically excellent education with careful attention to the development of the whole person, Bishop Blanchet is first and foremost a community of sharing and prayer. Outreach through service to the larger community is the key expression of our Catholic identity. Between 1992 and 2006, Bishop Blanchet High School conducted capital campaigns to accomplish renovations and bring new facilities to our campus. We are just beginning to realize the current and future benefits of the spiritual, academic, artistic, and physical growth of our students that comes from that legacy of facility growth over these years. Whether because of 1)
additional stations for our P.E classes, 2) practice and game facilities for our athletes, 3) updated and new classrooms, rehearsal and production space for the continued growth of our award winning Performing Arts program, 4) state-of-the art labs for our revised science curriculum, 5) facilities to accept wheelchair-bound students, 6) a beautiful chapel to grow in our faith and love of God, or 7) updated technology facilities and hardware, the future looks bright and exciting because of the carefully developed and implemented plans of those years. Proud of our past and joyfully embracing the challenges of our future, we remain a school committed to a Tradition of Faith, Scholarship and Service.
