When Bishop Alexander McGavick came to Aquinas High School in 1922, he wanted to build a four-year Catholic high school in La Crosse to replace the two-year Catholic high school at Holy Trinity. By 1925, a building committee of Arthur Funke, Joseph Leinfelder, and John C. Burns had begun planning.
In 1927, the land for Aquinas High School was purchased from the Coleman Lumber Company. The architectural firm of Parkinson and Dockendorf drew blueprints, and Peter Nelson Construction Company built the school. The original wing, completed at a cost of $200,000 is a Tudor Gothic building trimmed in Bedford stone.
Aquinas High School was dedicated Sunday afternoon, September 2, 1928 at 3 p.m. Bishop McGavick blessed the rooms. Two days after the dedication, 127 students were enrolled. Originally staffed by diocesan clergy and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Aquinas High School provided a well-rounded curriculum.
Blue and gold were chosen as school colors during an all-school assembly on September 17, 1928. On March 16, 1929, the girls first appeared in their official uniforms…navy blue serge dresses with white collars and cuffs.
In 1929, the first graduating class of Aquinas High School consisted of four girls. The number of students attending was 192, the same number that graduated in 1978.
During the 1930s, students came to Aquinas High School from as far away as Bloomfield, Montana, Minneapolis, and Canada. The girls at this time used the south stairway and the boys used the north.
The first intra-city football game, on September 23, 1934 against Central, ended in a tie. The first game against Logan was October 26 of the same year. Some 2,000 people saw the first city football game to be played under the lights. Aquinas High School lost, 25-0.
The student council was organized on October 7, 1936. The bronze statue of Christ the King was erected and dedicated outside of Aquinas High School in May 1938, and the first Aquinas High School graduate to become a priest, Philip Leinfelder, was ordained in 1938.
Building renovations and additions kept up with the growing student body. The building was enlarged in 1931, when the wing along Cameron Avenue including the chapel, food lab, and rooms 297, 208, 301, and 302 were added. In 1936, the Cass Street Wing was extended. It included guidance offices and rooms 215, 216, 309, and 310. The third addition included the old gym, tunnel, Cameron Street entrance, library, ERC, and rooms 311, 312, and 313. In 1954 the commons and rooms 201 through 206 were added.
In the 1980s, an extensive renovation of the interior and windows of the main building was undertaken, and in 1992, the renovation was completed throughout the building was set aside for Aquinas Middle School, located in the second floor hallways and opened in 1992.
On May 9, 1996, Bishop Raymond L. Burke announced that D. B. and Marge Reinhart and donated $3 million to kick off a $7.3-million building campaign for the construction of Bishop Burke Hall. The new facility was built on the corner lot of West Avenue and Cass Street and included the Reinhart Athletic Complex, a 1,000-seat gymnasium, new locker room facilities, a weight room, and a multi-purpose wrestling room. Also, a new music complex with separate vocal and instrumental, as well as several individual practice rooms, was added. To accommodate growing enrollment, 10 new classrooms, two science labs, and a shared computer lab became part of this expansion project. Due to the generosity of over 1,100 benefactors, the goal was reached and on September 12, 1997, Bishop Burke Hall was dedicated.
On Monday, May 13, 2002, Bishop Raymond L. Burke dedicated the life-size bronze sculpture of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the Aquinas Schools that is located in front of the music complex, facing Cass Street. Bruce Thomas of Minneapolis, Minnesota created the sculpture. Bishop Burke blessed the sculpture and then led a procession of friends, faculty, and students to the Reinhart Athletic Complex, where he thanked all those worked so diligently on the sculpture since 1996.
The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
Over 70 years ago a group of three Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration became part of the first Aquinas High School faculty and began the long tradition of Franciscan presence that helped shape the present Aquinas High School community.
This group of three sisters grew in numbers as the school added to its enrollment and peaked to 33 in the 1950s. With the decline in school population and in vocations, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at Aquinas High School began to decrease in numbers until 1992, when the last sister on the staff, Sister Lucille Kleinheinz, retired from active duty.
A lay faculty of one in 1930 has increased to a lay teaching staff of over 60 in both the high school and middle school today.
In addition to being an almost total Franciscan presence for many years, the sisters also chaired every department from art to biology to world history and yearbooks with the exception of sports. Moreover, the sisters were part of the administration holding the position of vice principal until Sister Celine Schumacher’s retirement in 1978.
Every sister who taught at Aquinas High School throughout the years was degreed and fully prepared both academically and theologically to educate out modern youth.
In addition to its professionals, Aquinas High School also graduated many young women who were gifted with a religious vocation to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
The total number of sisters engaged in teaching at Aquinas High School for the period of 64 years was 174. The values they portrayed and taught will continue to have an impact and influence not only on the thousands of students they taught but the next generation as well.
With the opening of the Mater Redemptoris Convent in La Crosse in 2000, a Franciscan presence returned to Aquinas High School with the Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr Saint George. These sisters now teach at Aquinas High School and assist with campus ministry activities.
The Mission Statement of Aquinas High School
Aquinas High School, as a Catholic institution, is a community of Christians whose mission is to foster mutual respect within a disciplined environment, to provide a challenging academic curriculum for all individuals, and to prepare students for a life of learning and Christ-like service to others.
The Aquinas High School Crest
The Aquinas High School crest, designed in 1942, symbolizes the depth of intent of Catholic education. It first appeared in the yearbook, the TRUMPET, and on the 1943 class rings.
The cross, which holds the central and most prominent position on the crest, identifies Aquinas High School as Catholic and indicates the importance of the faith and redemption of which it is a symbol.
XP, the first two letters (chi and rho) of the Greek word for Christ, signify that the life of a Christian should not be egocentric or worldcentric but Christocentric, centered around Christ.
The fleur-de-lys, the symbol of sanctity and virtue, symbolize God, man’s final end, and the Blessed Virgin, model of virtue. The lamp of learning and the books are symbols of knowledge and learning. The laurel over the books symbolizes reward and the lilies of the valley on the other side of the aureole symbolize humility.
"We are the friends of Christ. We have learned His spirit in chapel, in classroom, in hall, and gymnasium."
Rooted in faith and based in excellence, the spirit of Aquinas High School tradition and grown and spread immeasurably since the schools inception in 1927. The nearly 13,000 graduates in a multiplicity of professions from religion to business to medicine to education to law to entertainment have spread those high standards which are so much a part of the Aquinas High school experience throughout the world.
The common memories, of Sister’s influence, of Father’s jokes, of class Masses and meetings, of games and dances, of the dress code, the commons, and the classroom, serve to unite us all in experience, we each will always carry with us a bit of that special spirit that is Aquinas High School.
