Don Bosco Technical High School (Boston)

Don Bosco Technical High School
Address
330 Tremont St.
Boston, Massachusetts
United States
Coordinates 42°20′57″N 71°03′53″W / 42.3493°N 71.0648°W / 42.3493; -71.0648
Information
Type High school
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic, Salesians of Don Bosco
Patron saint(s) St. John Bosco
Established 1946
Founder Br. Julius Bollati, S.D.B. and Br. Angelo Bongiorno, S.D.B.
Status Defunct
Closed 1998
School district Archdiocese of Boston
Director Fr. Richard J. McCormick, S.D.B.
Principal Charles A. Schuetz
Employees 64 (1980)
Grades 9-12
Enrolment 625 (1991)
Classes offered Cabinetmaking, Construction Technology, Drafting and Design, Electronics, Electricity and Science Technology
Campus type Urban
Colour(s) Green and yellow         
Athletics conference Catholic Conference (MIAA)
Sports football, basketball, track, swimming, hockey, baseball (formerly tennis)
Team name Bears
Yearbook Technician

Don Bosco Technical High School (formerly called as Don Bosco Trade School from 1946-1954, and later officially named Don Bosco School of Technology from 1993 until its closure) is a defunct all-boys Roman Catholic secondary school for grades 9 through 12. Founded for immigrant boys by the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order of priests and brothers, the school was situated at 300 Tremont St. near the red light district, Boston, Massachusetts, United States from 1946 until its closure in 1998.

History

Founding and expansion

In 1945, the Salesians of Don Bosco in Boston purchased the neglected former John Paul Jones School building, built in 1898, located at 145 Byron St. in East Boston and renovated it.[1] Don Bosco Trade School, as it was known then, opened for the 1946-1947 school year with two teachers, Br. Julius Bollati, S.D.B. and Br. Angelo Bongiorno, S.D.B. and 16 students.[1][2] The new school was founded in almost a perfect location and time period: it served large numbers of the underprivileged children of mostly Roman Catholic Italian immigrants, offering both a trade and religious education. By 1954, enrollment had grown to 200, making the Byron St. campus too crowded.[1][2]

The school in partnership with the Salesian province leadership proceeded to search for a property in Boston fulfilling the necessary requirements. The school leadership looked in a few locations, including Jamaica Plain and the South End. A 14 January 1954 Jamaica Plain Citizen article read:


"New School to be Built on Rockwood St.
Don Bosco Technical School Will Offer Facilities For 1,000 Students
Construction of a new Don Bosco Technical School with facilities for more than 1000 students will be started on Rockwood Street, Jamaica Plain, sometime in March, it was disclosed this week. The New School, a $1,000,000 three-building project, will replace the present school which was founded on Byron street, East Boston in 1946 to provide technical as well as academic training. Present school facilities are inadequate to take care of the number of students who have requested to enroll in the past few years, officials said. The new school will contain facilities for technical, academic, recreational and religious instruction of its students.
To Occupy 23 Acres
The plant will occupy more than 23 acres. Two buildings, facing each other, will border on Rockwood Street.The third will set behind these two structures and face the street. One of the front buildings will house the teaching staff. Directly opposite will be a building containing a chapel, gymnasium and cafeteria. The rear building will house classrooms, a library, science laboratories and the woodworking, printing, auto mechanics and radio-television shops. The new gymnasium and chapel will be connected by a sliding door which when opened will increase the gym when large crowds are expected for service. The school operated by the Salesian Fathers and Brothers of Saint John Bosco, started in East Boston with 16 seventh grade students. The school now has an enrollment of 200 pupils and grammar school classes have been discussed. The first building of the proposed project is expected to be ready for students in February or next year."[2]

Another Jamaica Plain Citizen article from 19 August 1954 announced the choice of the South End site where the school was located from 1954 until its closure in 1998:

"Don Bosco Trade To Be Located On Site Of Brandeis School
Seen In Best Interests Of Local Area Residents
The abandonment of the Jamaica Plain site for the Don Bosco Trade School in favor of the former Brandeis High School on Warrenton Street, South End, was announced today by Councilman Edward F. McLaughlin, Jr. The announcement followed a series of protests by Jamaica Plain residents of the Moss Hill and Jamaica Hills section against construction of the school in a residential area. McLaughlin was the first public official to suggest a delay in construction and recommended the Brandeis school as a site. The school had been declared surplus and was considered one of the best equipped and centrally located high schools for a trade institution. The fathers who operate the present Don Bosco school in East Boston immediately concurred with McLaughlin's plan and asked the School Committee for permission to purchase the Brandeis structure.
The Don Bosco Technical High School building during the early 20th Century, when it was still the City of Boston Girls' and Boys' Continuation School.
McLaughlin arranged for a series of meetings between the interested parties and the sale was concluded last week when the Board of Sale for School Buildings approved a price of about $100,000. The vote was four to two in favor, with Mayor Hynes dissenting to the sale. The Mayor said he wanted the bids opened to all and wanted a higher price. McLaughlin said the change of sites would prove beneficial to all concerned. "There is no doubt," McLaughlin added, "that construction of a high school in the best residential are of Jamaica Plain was not to the best interests of either Jamaica Plain residents or the Fathers of the Don Bosco School."[2]

New campus and growth

The Salesians moved into the Brandeis Vocational School Campus, the main building of which was formerly the City of Boston Continuation School, with the two sides of the building split into Boys' and Girls' Units, in time for the 1954 school year.[1][3] During this time there was a Salesian seminary program at Don Bosco Tech, which was terminated in later years. The original brick/limestone building was built in the 1920s.[4] This was plenty of space to house the student body of 200 plus Salesian quarters.[1] In the years following the student population rose rapidly, reaching 562 in 1966.[5]

Artist Bing McGilvray recalls on his blog his experience during the 1960s, writing about the hippie movement and Don Bosco Tech's dicey city location:

Don Bosco was located in downtown Boston right on the edge of the ‘Combat Zone’, the city’s red light district. I walked past strip clubs, peep shows and porn stores every morning but they had been closed for several hours by 7am. Occasionally there would be a stray hooker stumbling along the sidewalk. ‘Bosco’ was also two blocks away from the vast Boston Common where everyday there seemed to be some hippie demonstration or happening. Hair was growing longer on men everywhere. Revolution was in the air but Bosco boys were still in ties and suit coats. That didn’t stop the culture from seeping through the brick walls however. We had one teacher who came to school high on LSD. He stood gazing out the window ruminating on how the sun may not actually be there because it takes so long for its light to reach the earth. He wasn’t a science teacher; he taught English; he called himself a poet. We were told at the time he was feeling ill and he was never seen again. Teachers were no match for the Beatles, the Stones and the Who. We were Rock & Roll baby boomers. Many students were being expelled or otherwise getting into trouble because they were too far into the counterculture already."[6]

Decline and closure

By 1974 the school reached its peak enrollment at around 900 students. After that, it went struggled as its facilities aged and enrollment declined. In 1971 and 1985 two new buildings were added to the campus to hold expanded electronics departments which were very popular during those years.[6]

On March 15, 1989, 10,800 spectators packed the old TD Garden to watch the MIAA Division I State Hockey Championship game against highly successful Catholic Memorial.[7] They came back from 2-0 and won the game 5-2, to the delight and surprise of the fans.[7] The championship rings giving to coaches and members were gold, silver an emerald green center, with an engraved bear, Don Bosco Tech's mascot, and the player's name on the side.[7]

By 1991, enrollment had dipped to 625.[8] A few years later, in an attempt to rebrand and attract new students, the school was renamed Don Bosco School of Technology.[9] By 1998, for financial, demographic and other reasons, including a lack of modern computer courses, the school was forced to close.[6][10]

The building was renovated and turned into a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, while the gymnasium and pool now serves as the Wang YMCA.[9]

Demographics

Year Enrollment Religious

Employees

 Lay

Employees

 Total

Employees

1946 16[1] 2[1] 0 2
1954 200[2] n/a n/a n/a
1966 562[5] 20[5] 11[5] 31[5]
1974 900 n/a n/a n/a
1980 737[11] 23[11] 41[11] 64[11]
1991 625[8] n/a n/a n/a

List of Administration

Director Years President Years Principal Years Assistant Principal Years
Fr. Angelo Bongiorno, S.D.B.[12] 1946-56 unknown 1946-93 unknown 1946 unknown
unknown 1947-56 Fr. Ernest Faggiono, S.D.B.[13] 1947-49
unknown 1949-54 Fr. Eugene Palumbo, S.D.B.[14] 1952-64
Fr. Emil Francis Fardellone, S.D.B.[15] 1956-59 Fr. Joseph Caselli, S.D.B.[1] 1954-58
unknown 1959-66 unknown 1958-74
Fr. Eugene Palumbo, S.D.B.[14] 1966-75 unknown 1964-74
Br. Jerry Meegan, S.D.B. 1974-80 Charles A. Schuetz[16] 1974-83
unknown 1975-80
Fr. Kenneth Germaine, S.D.B.[11] 1980
unknown 1980-84 Fr. Jonathan D. Parks, S.D.B.[17] 1980-83
Charles A. Schuetz[16] 1983-93 unknown 1983-98
Fr. Vincent Zuliani, S.D.B.[18] 1984-89
Fr. Sid Figlia, S.D.B.[19][20] 1989-93
Fr. Richard J. McCormick, S.D.B.[9][21][22] 1993-98 Charles A. Schuetz[21] 1993-98
unknown 1994-98

Note: The years listed for many of the school officials listed above may not be complete; only those years which have verifiably been recorded as years at the school have been listed. For example, Fr. Jay Verona, S.D.B. may have served for many years before and after 1966 but sources were only able to confirm the year of 1966.

Athletics

Championships

Basketball

Football

Hockey

Notable alumni

Popular Culture

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1945-1973" (PDF). http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com. External link in |website= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 B, Mark (2008-01-30). "Remember Jamaica Plain?: The High School That Never Was". Remember Jamaica Plain?. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  3. ↑ Mike, Fr (2009-08-10). "From the Eastern Front: A Look at "Don Bosco Tech" in Boston". From the Eastern Front. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  4. ↑ "rssc-architects : Doubletree Boston Hotel". www.rssc-architects.com. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 (tm), e-yearbook.com. "Don Bosco Technical High School - Technician Yearbook (Boston, MA), Class of 1966, Page 15". www.e-yearbook.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  6. 1 2 3 "Catholic Boys High School". bingmcgilvray. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  7. 1 2 3 "Long-lost Don Bosco championship ring back in the right hands - The Boston Globe". Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  8. 1 2 "Quincy Sun July - Dec 1991". archive.org. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  9. 1 2 3 "Quincy Sun July - Dec 1995". archive.org. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  10. ↑ Meagher, Dermot (2010-09-14). Judge Sentences: Tales from the Bench. UPNE. ISBN 9781555537364.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "1980 Don Bosco Technical High School Yearbook". www.classmates.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  12. ↑ "Father Angelo Bongiorno's Obituary on". Boston.com. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  13. ↑ "June 2006 Obituaries Orleans Parish Louisiana". USGW Archives. USGW Archives. June 2006.
  14. 1 2 "Fr. Eugene Palumbo's Obituary on". The Record. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  15. ↑ "Emil Fardellone Obituary - Westside/Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home | Marrero LA". obits.dignitymemorial.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  16. 1 2 Balajel, Oana M. (2009-03-01). "Charles Schuetz, educator". Boston.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  17. ↑ "Eastboston.com 7/13: Fr. Jonathan D. Parks, S.D.B., former principal of St. Dominic Savio High School (1990-1993)/Savio Prep (2001-2004) in East Boston, dies". www.eastboston.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30. line feed character in |title= at position 73 (help)
  18. ↑ "Father Vincent Zuliani, S.D.B. - Catholic New York". Catholic New York. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  19. ↑ Quincy Sun, July - Dec 1992, Volume 24-25, Page 71 | Document Viewer.
  20. ↑ "Full text of "Additional submissions to the development proposal for the site of bra parcel r-3 / r-3a"". archive.org. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  21. 1 2 Quincy Sun, July - Dec 1993, Volume 25-26, Page 314 | Document Viewer.
  22. ↑ "Tampabay: Priest quits teaching job amid furor". www.sptimes.com. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  23. ↑ "Councillor Frank Baker, D3 | City of Boston". www.cityofboston.gov. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
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