Providence St. Mel School

Private, coeducational school in Chicago, Illinois, United States

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Providence St. Mel School (PSM) is a private, coeducational Preschool-12th Grade school in East Garfield Park, Chicago, Illinois.^[1]

History

The school was created in 1969 with the merger of two schools, Providence High School and St. Mel High School. In 1978 the Archdiocese of Chicago decided to close it. The principal, Paul J. Adams III, and administrators of the school chose instead to operate it as an independent school, after the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, owners of the school building, agreed to sell it to them for a low price.^[2]

In 1982 and 1983, President Ronald Reagan visited the school. In 1993, Oprah Winfrey donated $1,000,000.^[3]

The October 2006 issue of Chicago magazine ranked Providence St. Mel as one of the most outstanding elementary schools in the metropolitan area. The school earned a place on the magazine's "A+ Team", the list of select 115 public and 25 private elementary and middle schools.^{[citation needed]}

Most recently, the school was listed as 44 of 59 (Best Private K-12 Schools in Illinois) and 113 of 142 and 83 of 138 (Best Private High Schools in Illinois), with a 100% graduation rate.^{[citation needed]}

Alumni

Lil Rel Howery, comedian
Linton Johnson, professional basketball player^[4]
Bernie Leahy (1908–1978), NFL player; attended St. Mel High School^[5]
Lee Loughnane, trumpet player for the American rock band Chicago
Bob Ociepka, professional basketball coach
Tom O'Halleran, Member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district
Gene Pingatore, high school basketball coach
Frank Quilici, professional baseball player
John Wayne Gacy, serial killer (did not graduate)^[6]

References

^ "Contact Archived 2012-11-01 at the Wayback Machine." Providence St. Mel School. Retrieved on April 16, 2011. "Providence St. Mel 119 South Central Park Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60624"
^ Hendryx, William M. "A School That Wouldn't Die" (PDF). Reader's Digest. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
^ History Archived 2006-10-01 at the Wayback Machine psm.k12.il.us
^ "Linton Johnson". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
^ "BERNIE LEAHY". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
^ "Gacy, John Wayne, Jr". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 5, 2023.