Bethlehem Catholic High School

SCHOOL
Bethlehem Catholic High School
since 1986.
SNAPSHOT coordinator
Prior to coming to Becahi, Grasso was
an elementary physical education teacher
for the Diocese of Allentown 1974-86.
Grasso’s work has merited many honors,
Background/history: Founded in 1925, including Leadership in Catholic Youth
Bethlehem Catholic High School (Becahi) Sport from Newmann College (2008) and
has a rich history of high-quality educa- Bethlehem Catholic Wall of Fame Inductee
tion. Its current campus was built in 1964. (2007).
Becahi endeavors to graduate students
Grasso received his bachelor of science
who are responsible Christians, better pre- degree in health and physical education
pared to meet the demands of an ever- from East Stroudsburg University (ESU),
changing society.
and has done graduate work at ESU and
Enrollment: 740 students, with an av- Penn State University.
erage class size of 24. The student-teacher
Janice Little has been department chair
ratio is 17:1.
and mathematics teacher since 1986. She
Mission: The Becahi community func- teaches AP statistics, CP statistics and
tions in an environment of love, support honors algebra I. She serves as the Naand appreciation for diversity that reflects tional Honor Society (NHS) advisor and
Catholic principles. It provides a faith-cen- facilitates the NHS Faculty Council. Her
tered community in which all students have service has also included Student Assisthe opportunity to detance Program, evaluavelop spiritually, sotion and selection of textcially, physically, emobooks and software, adBecahi’s vision
tionally and intellectuvising the yearbook staff,
is to have stuand Middle States Evalually while being challenged to acquire knowlation Team.
dents feel loved
edge in various disciPreviously Little was
and challenged
plines. Becahi welcomes
department chairperson
and mathematics teacher
students from all backevery day at
at the former St. Francis
grounds and religious
school, to make
Academy, Bethlehem
traditions.
1976-86.
Becahi’s vision is to
Bethlehem
have students feel loved
Little earned her bachCatholic the
and challenged every
elor of science degree in
day at school, to make
psychology from Penn
high school of
Bethlehem Catholic the
State University; her secchoice in the
high school of choice in
ondary teacher certificathe Lehigh Valley, to
tion from Michigan State
Lehigh Valley,
achieve
sustained
University; and her
to achieve susgrowth in our enrollmaster’s in education in
ment, to remain finantained growth in mathematics from Allencially solvent and to
town College of St.
our enrollment,
make alumni proud to
Francis de Sales, Center
say, “I’m a Becahi alum!”
Valley, now DeSales Unito remain finanPrincipal
and
versity.
cially solvent
teacher biographies:
Becahi has a faculty of
John Petruzzelli has been
43 full-time laity, religious
and to make
principal since 2010. Bepriests.
alumni proud to and
fore coming to Becahi, he
Special programs/techwas associate principal
nology/extra-curricular
say, “I’m a
of St. Elizabeth High
activities: Becahi offers
Becahi alum!”
School, Wilmington, Del.
students an opportunity
2006-10.
to grow spiritually
He earned his bachthrough Mass, daily
elor of arts degree in history from St. Jo- Communion service, in-school and overseph University, Philadelphia, and his mas- night student-led retreat programs, service
ter in education degree from Wilmington projects, summer service trips, penance
University, Del. Petruzzelli holds his services and student-led daily prayer.
principal’s certificate in Delaware and his
All classrooms are equipped with interLevel I and Level II principal’s certificate active Smart Boards, completed in 2010.
in Pennsylvania.
Completed in 2012, the Media Center has
Michael Grasso has been dean of stu- iPads, E-readers and laptops.
dent life and athletic director since 2009,
Becahi offers a Virtual High School
physical education teacher 1986-present, (VHS). With the Vo-Tech option, students
crisis intervention coordinator 1989- are enrolled in the Bethlehem Area Vocapresent, student assistance program coor- tional Technical School’s Honors Medical
dinator 1989-present, driver education Sciences Academy and in the Honors Enteacher 1978-present, head baseball coach gineering program, in addition to others in
1996-present, and earned his 300th base- the various vocational areas, such as culiball win April 17, 2010. He has been SADD nary arts and carpentry.
Becahi has a strong international program with more than 40 students from
Spain, South Korea, China, France, Germany, Mexico, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
The school has 19 athletic teams and
more than 40 clubs. The theater department has earned three Freddy Awards. The
Golden Hawk Band – the largest high
school band in the diocese – earned the
prestigious Esprit de Corps award in 2012
and has performed in Boston, Mass; Virginia Beach, Va.; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Orlando, Fla.
Becahi has a fitness center, athletic
fields, a performing arts center renovated
in 2006, and three faculty rooms renovated
in 2007. It has a synthetic turf practice field
as of 2010, a Golden Hawk student snack
shop completed in 2011 and a new wrestling room completed in 2011.
Two state-of-the-art biology labs were
completed in 2012. Band room renovations
will be completed in summer 2013. A BCTV
television studio will be completed in 2013,
and state-of-the-art chemistry and computer labs will be completed in 2014.
Academic achievements and awards:
Writing awards received in 2011-12 were
Holland and Knight, third place; Pennsylvania Pro-Life, first, second and third;
Maryknoll, second; Knights of Columbus
Diocesan Pro-Life, second; Knights of
Columbus “Responsible Citizenship” State
ninth and 11th grade, first; International 11th
grade, second; and multiple winners the
past two years in the diocesan “Organ
Donor” Essay Contest.
Colleges and universities students have
attended: Ninety-seven percent of students place in post-secondary education
annually. The class of 2012 received 179
scholarships totaling $8.2 million and now
attend 82 different colleges and universities, including Duquesne University, Old
Dominion University, Purdue University,
Quinnipiac University, Seton Hall Univer-
sity, Temple University, University of Notre
Dame and University of Pittsburgh.
Financial aid availability and transfer
grants: Becahi offers more than $900,000
annually in financial aid, grants and scholarships. If a family wants Catholic education for its children, the school will do everything it can to help make that happen.
Through the diocesan Tuition Transfer
Grant program, grants are available to 10th,
11th- and 12th-grade students who transfer
from a public, private or charter school.
For
more
information,
visit
www.allentowndiocese.org.
School contact information: 2133 Madison Ave., Bethlehem, PA 18017; 610-8660791; [email protected].
Social media: Facebook “Bethlehem
Catholic High School.”
Additional information: This year the
Becahi Squires were honored with the Association of Fundraising Professionals
National Philanthropy Day award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, recognizing their service partnership with The ARC
of the Lehigh and Northampton counties.
Becahi students held a Penn State MiniThon dance marathon for the first time in
2012 and raised more than $40,000 for pediatric cancer research.
Becahi students’ required number of
individual service hours is 70 over four
years (approximately 13,650 total). Current
seniors already have served more than
18,000 hours in three years.
Students and families set up and have
contributed more than $16,000 toward the
Kasey Roman Scholarship Fund, established for a student who passed away in
her freshman year (2008.)
School tours: Visitation opportunities
include shadow days, individual interviews, grade-level events, open houses
and parent information sessions. To set
up a tour, contact Joseph Henrich, admissions director, [email protected] or 610-866-0791, ext. 13.