St. John XXIII College Preparatory marks 20 years of Catholic education in west Houston

Sister Elizabeth John teaches Theology IV class to seniors at St. John XXIII College Preparatory in 2023. (Photo courtesy of St. John XXIII College Preparatory)

KATY — Aug. 16, 2004, dawned bright and clear, a cool, crisp morning with a hint of fall already in the air. While it would be in the low 80s by lunchtime, it was barely 65 degrees as the first students came through the doors of the new Pope John XXIII High School, beginning their journey in a brand-new building.  

“It was a unique experience,” said Roland Millare, who is now the vice president of curriculum and directory of clergy initiatives at the St. John Paul II Foundation, but back in 2004, was a newly minted theology teacher. “I remember walking through the site before we opened and noting this is where the chapel will be. On that first day of school, the kids were putting together their own desks, that’s how new it was.”  

The 45 students and the accompanying faculty who began classes that day were part of something special. It had been more than 40 years since the last new Catholic high school opened in the Houston area. In the two generations since, the world has changed, and Pope John XXIII High School was built to reflect that. Its 65,000 square feet sat on 34 acres at the corner of Franz Road and the yet-to-be-completed Grand Parkway, overlooking a wide stretch of prairie, offering plenty of room to expand. There was a band room, a library, computer and science labs, a gym and a chapel. Its academic building housed 19 classrooms, a cafeteria and space for the administration.  

It had taken four years and $12 million to make Pope John XXIII High School a reality. And this was only phase one.  

But for the students in those first classes, it wasn’t one phase of several. It was a place to call home.  

“I saw the school as a new place where students could participate in founding traditions,” said Father Matthew Kruleski, a class of 2011 graduate. Father Kruleski is now the parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe and was the first graduate to be ordained as a priest.

“There was also excitement about being part of building up an institution that would affect the lives of many,” he said.

“The school was very faithful to the Church,” Father Kruleski said. “My theology classes were, for me, an opening into a new world; by studying the faith in depth, I felt that I learned more about Catholicism than I had in my elementary school, and I felt called to become personally responsible for my faith.”

“I remember touring and just feeling like it was a fit and that it felt like home,” said Ellen (Stidham) Emerick. Graduating in 2009, she was a member of the second graduating class.

“There were not very many people. I didn’t feel pressured. It wasn’t as stuffy as some of the other tours that we went on,” she said.

Both Father Kruleski and Emerick call the school essential to their foundation as students and, later, adults. Ellen met her husband, Andrew Emerick, when he transferred in as a sophomore; he would go on to receive the school’s first Distinguished Alumni Award.  

“The teachers that we had were all strong,” Andrew said. “They all actually cared for us, and it was a great place to grow as a teenager. I felt like a person there, and I felt like I was part of a bigger community.”

Millare would later attend the couple’s wedding.  

Community was always a part of the plan for the school. Houston’s other Catholic high schools were all inside the Beltway; Pope John XXIII would be the first — and is currently still the only — high school that was geographically situated for students from Katy, Fulshear and Houston’s other western suburbs.  

Grounded in both the Catholic faith and specifically the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the spirituality of St. John XXIII, the high school has sought to provide a college preparatory education emphasizing scholarship and service to others. This philosophy is reflected in the school’s pillars — Oboedientia, Pax, Virtus and Renovatio.  

At the end of its first decade, there was cause for great celebration as Pope John XXIII was canonized, prompting the school to change its name to reflect the former pontiff’s elevation. The newly renamed St. John XXIII College Preparatory would also see its first expansion projects, including a new gymnasium and student center to accommodate the weekly school Mass, cafeteria and kitchen, classrooms and additional arts facilities.  

Throughout its history, the high school has continued to grow. During the last school year, the student body numbered 434. And there are plans for additional campus improvements to help the school impact the student experience.  School leaders said they hope to continue to offer a Catholic high school option to families on Houston’s west side.