BURBANK, IL – St. Laurence High School is excited to announce that it has been named a winner in the Daily Southtown’s “Best of Chicago’s Southland” for the sixth consecutive year. In the 2021 edition of the awards, St. Laurence earned the title of “Best Co-ed Private School.” Winners for the award are voted on by readers of the Daily Southtown.

St. Laurence High School is bucking trends in Catholic education. Located in south suburban Burbank, Illinois, it is the fastest growing Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Chicago. With an enrollment of over 900 students in the 2021-22 school year, St. Laurence is the only Catholic high school in the Southland to see significant enrollment increases in each of the last six years.

After a successful transition that spanned the last four years, the 2021-22 school year will be the first in St. Laurence history where the student population will be fully coed. To strike the right balance of diversity and focus, St. Laurence employs a unique coed model to its students – single gender classes for freshmen and sophomore years and fully coed classes for juniors and seniors. This year, St. Laurence will welcome over 250 freshmen, the largest class in more than 20 years.

In preparation for the influx of new students, the summer has been a very exciting time at St. Laurence. To maintain small class sizes and the personal connections students feel in the classroom, a dynamic group of new faculty members were hired this summer. This includes three new school counselors to help bolster the school’s commitment to college readiness. Additionally, renovations were made throughout the school that include a modernized main office, a student cafe serving Starbucks beverages, a brand new girls bathroom, an updated admissions center and a remodeled faculty lounge. The school’s two largest projects of 2021, a state of the art Learning Resource Center and a turf baseball infield, will begin construction this fall. In the Spring of 2022, plans are set to replace the outdoor turf field and track.

The school’s modern STEM curriculum and project-based learning environment have been launching pads into the unprecedented growth, improving the academic profile of the school by leaps and bounds. Since the implementation of the curriculum eight years ago, St. Laurence students have seen increases in key metrics such as standardized test scores, college scholarship dollars and recognitions such as Illinois State Scholars. St. Laurence will add to its impressive academic offerings this year as the school launches its brand new International Baccalaureate (IB) program. St. Laurence will be the only Catholic high school in the Southland to offer the advanced academic program.

To go with the school’s long list of academic resources, students receive a well-rounded high school experience with a variety of extracurricular offerings. St. Laurence offers over 20 sports teams, including the state powerhouse baseball program, the southland’s highest ranked boys soccer program, historic football and boys basketball programs, a track and field program that has produced six Division 1 athletes in the past five seasons and girls programs such as volleyball, softball, soccer and basketball that have seen great success in just a few short years since the school went coed. The fine arts at St. Laurence have also made tremendous strides in recent years, with a growing drama program, expanded visual arts offerings and new leadership in musical arts, which includes the launching of a new choir.

There are many opportunities to learn more about all of the exciting things happening at St. Laurence this fall. The Viking Visit Shadow Program will return this year, providing grammar school students an immersive day in the life of a St. Laurence student. St. Laurence will also host Open Houses on Sunday, October 3 and Sunday, November 7. There will also be Personal Tour Nights, Student Panels, sports clinics and many more events in the fall semester.