School Mission, Vision and Profile

Catholic High School was originally established under the auspices of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond as Norfolk Catholic High School in 1949. In 1993, the school relocated to Virginia Beach and opened as Catholic High School. In the fall of 2003, the school was renamed Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School. The name reverted to Catholic High School in June 2019.  Based firmly on Catholic tradition, the school is dedicated to nurturing the intellect, shaping character and forming Christian values. The student body is composed of young men and women from varied socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Students represent the major cities of southside Hampton Roads—Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Catholic High School and the Diocese of Richmond are accredited by Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA), a worldwide leader in accreditation and school improvement.

CHS is also a proud member of the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) and the Virginia Catholic Education Association (VCEA).

The faculty totals 41 instructors and administrators; 31 have advanced degrees. The student body of 478 includes 117 seniors.

CLASS OF 2023 
A minimum of 28 credits are required for the Advanced diploma and 24 for the Standard diploma. Both have a community service requirement.

*Students are encouraged to take four credits in these areas. In the Class of 2023, 113 seniors are enrolled in at least 1 math, and 111 are enrolled in at least 1 science; 42 will have completed foreign language through the fourth year.

The academic year is divided into two semesters, totaling 180 days. Midterm exams are held in December. The schedule consists of eight academic class blocks alternating with four each day. Each student is required to take six classes per semester, one of which must be Theology. The entire curriculum is rigorous and complex, in preparation for college entrance.

The Catholic Diocese of Richmond instituted a diocesan-wide weighting scale for its high school courses beginning with the graduating class of 2022. Weighting of .5 per semester is given to honors and accelerated courses and 1.0 per semester for Advanced Placement courses. All courses are included in the calculation of the GPA. AP and Honors courses are indicated on the transcript with an asterisk (*). All students in Advanced Placement and Honors courses are selected based on a competitive process that includes examinations, recommendations, and standardized test scores. Students enrolled in AP courses are required to take AP exams.