Mount Carmel High School celebrated its Centennial Anniversary in July of 2000, and with this historic benchmark came a renewed commitment to the future. In 1999, school leaders Fr. Carl J. Markelz, O.Carm. and David Lenti unveiled the Campaign For A New Century of Excellence. Leaning on decades of storied tradition and hoping to nurture relationships with dedicated benefactors, Mount Carmel laid out a three-phase campaign with the hopes of stabilizing the school's future and propelling the institution into the 21st Century.

In December of 2006, only seven short years after the campaign's inception, the school was only $1 million away from completing Phase One of the ambitious $17.5 million campaign. The Mount Carmel Convocation Center, the main byproduct of Phase One, was dedicated in September, 2005. This glorious, state-of-the-art facility, which cost $17.5 million to erect, has already transformed life around Mount Carmel. School leaders are thankful to all of the generous donors who have made Phase One of the Campaign a success, and they invite you to learn more about the Campaign For A New Century of Excellence, and the impact it will have on the history of Mount Carmel.

Please browse these pages to learn more about the campaign. If you would like to learn more about becoming a donor, please contact David Lenti at 773-324-1020, x228, or at dlenti@mchs.org.

Campaign Goals:

Mount Carmel High School, led by priests and brothers of the Carmelite order, has been educating young men from Chicago and its surrounding areas since 1900. The school aspires to educate students well into the 21st Century, and beyond. The Campaign For a New Century of Excellence will allow Mount Carmel to meet the following goals:

- To be the best all-boys, Catholic school in the Chicagoland area.

- To continue to do what the school has done for 108 years: provide an affordable, Catholic-based education to a diverse group of young men.

- To set the standard for academic and athletic achievement, while at the same time fostering an environment where young men learn lessons that will allow them to be wonderful assets to society.

Campaign Phases:

Mount Carmel is currently in the beginning stages of Phase Two of the Campaign For A New Century Of Excellence. When the school reaches the completion of this phase, the third phase will begin immediately. Here is a summary of the campaign:

Phase I

Mount Carmel Convocation Center

This $17.5 million, state-of-the-art academic and athletic facility serves as a bold statement that Mount Carmel is primed for a bright future. The facility, home to Cacciatore Athletic Center, features Science and Computer labs, a Student Commons, a kitchen, a competition gymnasium, Athletic Offices and locker rooms, the Frank Kiszka Alumni Suite, and Gilmore Hall, home to the President and Advancement Office staffs. Click here to see images and learn more about the Convocation Center.

Other important facelifts on campus that occurred in Phase I are as follows:

- The school purchased the St. Gelasius property across 64th Street and installed a new parking lot.
- Blackstone Street, from 64th to 65th Streets, was closed down and grass and trees were installed, connecting Haggerty and Carey fields.

Phase II

The first part of this phase will see Mount Carmel purchase the Wadsworth facility (just east of the school on the southeast corner of 64th and Blackstone) from Chicago Public Schools. When the property is purchased, another new parking lot will be installed.

The second part of Phase II will see the Main Building, erected in 1924, undergo a complete rehabilitation.

Phase III

The final phase of the Campaign For A New Century Of Excellence will see the rehabilitation of the St. Gelasius building, which sits on the northeast corner of 64th and Dante. Mount Carmel now onws the facility, and plans for the usage of the building are pending.