July - Saint Mary's Catholic High School

Jonathon Ciani (’06) Joins Illustrious Group of Knights
For the past 24 years, the Valley of the Sun Chapter of the
National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame has
honored Arizona high school football players for their academic,
athletic, and leadership achievements. Jonathon Ciani was
selected as one of this year’s Scholar-Athletes. In addition, his
name will be permanently enshrined in the College Football Hall
of Fame in South Bend, Indiana as a Scholar-Athlete.
Congratulations to Jonathon on this well-deserved recognition.
Other alumni winners of this prestigious award reflect the
character of its recipients.
Class of 1987 Kevin Scott: Attended Stanford University and
played for the Detroit Lions in the NFL.
Class of 1987 Sylvester Mabry graduated from Colorado
State University with a civil engineering degree. He is married
with four children, and lives in Colorado.
Class of 1989 Brian Musselman graduated from the US Air
Force Academy and remains in the Air Force. He is stationed in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Class of 1989 Matt Taylor graduated from the University of
San Diego and is now on the faculty at Saint Mary’s High School.
Class of 1991 Hector Gamez is a policeman with the Phoenix
Police Department.
Class of 1993 Brett Haywood graduated from Baylor
University and the University of Arizona Medical School, and
now practices medicine in Tucson, Arizona.
Class of 1995 David Stoft graduated from the University of
Arizona and recently graduated from the Wallace S. Boyd School
of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF A SEVEN PERIOD SCHOOL DAY
In February, 2003, Saint Mary’s hosted a Visiting Team of the Western Catholic Educational Association and received its
evaluation of the accreditation status of Saint Mary’s. The WCEA followed this visitation with the full accreditation of Saint Mary’s
for a six-year term but identified “Areas for Growth” to be addressed by the school. On March 2, 2006, a two-person Visiting Team of
WCEA visited Saint Mary’s to evaluate the school’s progress and issue a midterm Progress Report. We are pleased to announce that
Saint Mary’s received very positive comments on all issues under consideration by the Visiting Team.
The decision by Saint Mary’s to move to a seven-period school day was a significant change in the academic structure of the
school. The WCEA’s Accreditation Visiting Team, during its midterm visit to the school, commended the willingness of the faculty to
receive and own the school’s vision, and especially commended the faculty for the professional manner in which it responded to the
challenge of the seven-period school day. The Visiting Team urged the school to maximize the possibilities presented by the move to
a seven-period day, including exploration of several scheduling options. Indeed, teachers and staff spent months discussing this issue
and explored a number of alternative approaches. In completing the process, teachers voted to recommend a plan in which all seven
classes would meet each day. This recommendation was supported by the SMHS Advisory Committee, Principal Mark Mauro, and
School Superintendent MaryBeth Mueller. All members of the school community are thankful for the continuing hard work of all those
who shaped the discussion and decision on this important issue.
New Graduation Requirements
The change to a seven-period school day led to a change in the number of credits required for graduation, which will differ for each
graduating class until the Class of 2010, as follows:
2010 - Freshman 28 credits required for graduation 2009 - Sophomore 27 credits required for graduation
2008 - Junior 26 credits required for graduation 2007 - Senior 25 credits required for graduation
Credits must be distributed among the academic disciplines as follows: Theology (4.0), English (4.0), Social Studies (3.0),
Mathmatics (3.0), Science (2.0). The Class of 2007 must take 9.0 additional elective credits. The Class of 2008 must take 0.5 Health
credit, 0.5 PE credit, and 9.0 additional elective credits. The Class of 2009 must take 0.5 Health credit, 0.5 PE credit, and 10.0
additional elective credits. The Class of 2010 must take 1.0 Fine Arts credit, 0.5 Health credit, 1.0 PE credit, and 9.5 additional
elective credits.
Curriculum Improvements
One major benefit from the move to a seven period day is the expansion of elective offerings across many disciplines. Our course
offerings for the 2006/2007 school year now include: American Sign Language, Creative Writing, Speech/Debate, two levels of Art,
Stage Craft, Beginning and Advanced Band (formerly a before school offerings), three levels of Dance, Drama and Acting 1-2, Chorus,
Music Appreciation, Lifetime Sports, Weight Training, Human Anatomy & Physiology, Psychology, Current Events, History of Anti-
Semitism and the Holocaust, Journalism, and Student Council.
Mary Agnes Echenique (’43) passed away on June 13, 2006. Mary Agnes
returned to Saint Mary’s in 1947 and retired in 1988, after four decades of
teaching and coaching. She was inducted into the Saint Mary’s Hall of Fame as
Outstanding Faculty in 1997. She was president of the Lettergirls in her junior
year and GAA president in her senior year. She completed college in three years
and later received a masters degree. Hundreds of girls benefited from her
coaching and still more students enriched their lives by her presence in the
classroom. Mary Agnes will be sorely missed.
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