Our History
In the early 1960's Bishop Donohoe, the first Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton, envisioned a Diocesan high school, accessible to all Catholic families in the southern part of the Diocese. Armed with a commitment to Catholic education and to the youth of the area, he engaged the Augustinian Fathers and Holy Cross Sisters to work with dedicated parents and a supportive community to open Central Catholic High School on land donated by St. Stanislaus Parish in 1966.The Augustinians and Holy Cross Sisters remained with the coed school until 1980, when Father Richard Morse, and Oblate of St. Francis de Sales became the fourth principal. He was followed by the first lay principal, Dr. Les Clements. Mr. Jim Pecchenino, class of '72, became principal in 1987 and the transition to the President Principal model, with Mr. Pecchenino as President, was made in 1992.
Throughout the school's 40 year history, Central Catholic High School has served students from throughout the southern part of the Diocese. Students are attracted by CCHS's rigorous college-prep program, its wide variety of co-curricular activities, its strong religious base and the caring family atmosphere. The CCHS Alumni Association plays an important role in the school, in fact, 13% of the student body are children of alumni.
The school has remained fervently Catholic throughout its history, with annual retreats for all students and staff, prayer before every class and activity and weekly Mass. Four years of Theology and 80 hours of Christian Service are required for graduation.
In the last six years, the original campus has been augmented with the Hogan Center (a wrestling facility), the Alumni Quad and the Jaffa Center (providing two additional classrooms). In addition, the Biology, Chemistry and Physics laboratories have been completely remodeled.
Today, the Bishop's vision lives on in the students and staff of the school. Recognized for academic excellence by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Central Catholic High School offers a tradition of excellence to students from Stanislaus and several outlying counties.
