St. Laurence High School is a co-educational, STEM-based high school founded in 1961. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, the school is conducted by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and is named for the Irish Saint Laurence O'Toole. The school is located in the southwest Chicago suburb of Burbank, Illinois, adjacent to the property of the former Queen of Peace High School, a private, all-female Catholic high school that closed in 2017. St. Laurence became co-ed beginning with the 2017–2018 school year after Queen of Peace closed.

History

St. Laurence High School was founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers as a boys' school. With the closure of its neighboring sister school Queen of Peace High School, a girls' school run by the Dominican Sisters, it was announced that St. Laurence would become co-educational from the 2017–2018 academic year onwards and accommodate transferring female students. Due to construction delays on the Queen of Peace High School building, Queen of Peace High School classes were held in the D and E wings of the St. Laurence building for one school year while construction on Queen of Peace High School was completed. Currently, AERO Special Education Cooperative occupies the former Queen of Peace campus, with new accessible construction completed in 2023.

Classes

At the start of the 2013 school year, St. Laurence High School became a STEM school. The school incorporates spirituality and leadership in its STEM program. St. Laurence High School also pioneers "Career Explorer" courses. All classrooms are located on the first floor of the school. Classrooms are divided among four of the five academic wings, labeled A, B, C, D, and E. In 2021, St. Laurence High School began an IB Diploma Programme, making it one of only three Catholic high schools in Illinois to offer the program, along with DePaul College Prep and Trinity High School.

Athletics

St. Laurence High School is a member of both the Chicago Catholic League (CCL) for boys' sports and the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) for girls' sports. It is also a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). St. Laurence sponsors interscholastic teams in baseball, basketball, bowling, cheer, cross country, dance, eSports, flag football, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling, which compete in IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments. The school also sponsors an ice hockey team. The following teams have finished in the top four at the IHSA state tournament in their respective class:

Notable alumni