About Overview
“The best move we have made for our children as their parents to date was sending them to Ursuline.”
Welcome
to Ursuline High School
Matthew Sammartino
Principal
I welcome you to the Ursuline High School website. I hope it will enable you to learn more about the Ursuline legacy and its grand traditions, which have been an integral part of Catholic education in the Mahoning Valley for 117 years. Established in 1905 by the Youngstown Ursuline Sisters, Ursuline High School has provided a community of faith and an academic environment within which young people are challenged and supported to become who they have been called to be by their Creator. Our religious heritage permeates every facet of life at Ursuline. We proclaim the Word through formal instructional programs, through experiential activities, and through the celebration of the Liturgy. We build community to reinforce Catholic values as the basis for decision-making and as the model for personal relationships. We foster respect for our differences in gender, creed, race, and nationality by celebrating our unique talents, gifts, and abilities and by developing relationships that energize us in our work together. We are committed to lives of service and our students have countless opportunities to reach out and befriend the poor, the elderly, and the dispossessed.
Ursuline High School has a tradition of academic excellence demonstrated by our students who are named National Merit Finalists and Commended Scholars, by the rigorous standards of our Advanced Placement programs, and by the high percentage of Ursuline students (98%) who continue their education at colleges and universities around the country. Recent classes represent Ursuline today at Notre Dame University, John Carroll University, the University of Pennsylvania, NEOMED, and Ohio State University to name only a few.
Commitment to the Fine and Performing Arts has long been a hallmark of the school. A full curriculum of studio art instruction is enhanced by elective courses in ceramics and multimedia art. The music program features marching and concert bands that successfully compete on local, regional, and national levels. Our theater department stages three major productions each year: Student One Acts in the fall, a comedy or drama production in the winter, and the Spring Musical in May.
Our students have multiple opportunities to develop their unique gifts and talents through a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Through these programs our students hone their leadership skills, recognize the importance of hard work, channel their energy and enthusiasm, develop their creativity and imagination, and form relationships with adult mentors and their peers who share their values and interests.
Ursuline High School is blessed with a dedicated and talented staff who live the Ursuline motto Soli Deo Gloria — For the Glory of God Alone — each and every day. Over two-thirds of our teachers have master’s degrees, and all continue their education through planned professional development programs annually. Their commitment to their students extends beyond the classroom by serving as mentors, advisors, and chaperones.
I invite you to learn more about Ursuline by exploring the pages of this website, and I encourage you to visit our school in person. I would love to meet you when you visit – be it as a parent, prospective student, alumnus or friend of our school.
Soli Deo Gloria…Go Irish.
Mission
Statement
We are Ursuline, a college preparatory high school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.
We come from diverse backgrounds in the spirit of St. Angela Merici and the Ursuline Sisters to be living witnesses to the wisdom and virtue of Christ and His Church.
We form a family of faith, achievement, and promise, striving to be life-long learners and responsible citizens in a global society.
Soli Deo Gloria
Belief Statements
- We promote excellence in all aspects of the Ursuline experience.
- We assist our students in the proper formation of a moral conscience in order that they might live their lives more abundantly in Christ and serve one another.
- We strengthen the necessary partnership between home and school, affirming that Ursuline exists to serve the primary educator of the student – the parent or guardian.
- We are committed to educating students of diverse economic, cultural, religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds.
- We promote responsible social change based on Gospel values.
- We champion superior standards of academic achievement which establish the groundwork for our graduates’ success in personal, academic and career endeavors.
- We integrate Gospel values and Catholic teachings within the curriculum.
- We nurture each person’s inherent worth and dignity.
- We express the foundational sacramental principle that God acts through everyone; that all can make a difference, all can touch the future, and all can build the Kingdom of God.
- We employ traditional and innovative methods of inquiry, research and assessment, which meet the many educational needs of the learners in our care.
- We continually challenge one another – adults and adolescents – to strive for growth as learners, believers, and citizens.
- We resolve issues of conflict and division by mutual respect and a Christian regard for one another that affirms the goodness of the individual and the strengthening of our community.
Alma Mater
Alma Mater, Ursuline High School,
With your colors green and gold.
We your loyal sons and daughters.
Pledge to you our faith untold.
Alma Mater, Alma Mater,
Alma Mater, old and true,
In our hearts and in our mem’ries.
Lingers deepest love for you.
Fight Song
Up in the sky
There’ll be a great big thunder
Sounding out our battle cry,
As Green and Gold go marching
‘gainst the foe,
Down to the other goal.
We’re with you team,
We know that you will conquer,
Onward to victory or die …
For U.H.S. we know that
You’ll do your best, so come on
Fight, Fight, Ursuline High!
Academic Accreditations
Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association
In 1994, the Bishops of Ohio formed the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association (OCSAA). The OCSAA is a collaborative undertaking of the Catholic dioceses in Ohio and is governed by the Superintendents of Schools who serve as the OCSAA Commission. The purpose of the OCSAA is to strengthen Catholic school identity and mission, and engage Catholic schools in the ongoing improvement of student learning.
In keeping with the mission of the OCSAA, the OCSAA process has as its hallmark a commitment to continuous improvement. As a member of the OCSAA, Ursuline High School engages in strategic planning to ensure a high-performing school in which students are grounded in their faith life and achieve at high levels.
OCSAA accreditation also requires Ursuline High School to show evidence that they are implementing OCSAA Standards. The State Board of Education has approved these Standards as comparable to the ODE’s Operating Standards for Ohio’s Schools. Through the OCSAA accreditation process, Ursuline High School maintains its state charter.
Ursuline High School is fully accredited by the OCSAA and possesses a charter from the State of Ohio to operate.
AdvancEd Accreditation
AdvancED, formerly known as the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, is the largest community of education professionals in the world. AdvancED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, on-site external reviews of PreK-12 schools and school systems to ensure that all learners realize their full potential. Their expertise is grounded in more than a hundred years of work in school accreditation.
Ursuline High School is fully accredited by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission, the national commission that confers the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) accreditation seal. This means that Ursuline High School is recognized across the nation as a quality school.
To learn more about the School Accreditation Process, visit www.advanc-ed.org.