BBHS History
Bishop Brossart High School started as St. Mary High School in 1950. In 1949 St. Mary parish purchased the old Campbell County High School building and in 1950 St. Mary High School opened as a high school for St. Mary parish. The school was led by its first superintendant, Rev. Francis J. DeJaco. First teachers were Sister Mary Jean, S.N.D., and the Rev. Louis Brinker. The first class started with 32 freshman students. The first graduating class of 25 students was in 1954. In 1961 the high school was changed into a district high school serving 6 parishes of southern Campbell county. The parishes of, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Phillip, St. Joseph Camp Springs, St. Joseph Cold Spring, St. Mary, and St. John Wilder. That year we also saw the first of many building expansions with the addition of three classrooms. In 1962, the name of St. Mary High School was changed to Bishop Brossart High School in honor of Bishop Ferdinand Brossart, 4th Bishop of the Diocese of Covington and a former resident of Campbell County. The class of 1965 was the first class to attend Bishop Brossart High School all four years as Bishop Brossart and not St. Mary High School. The Class of 1965 also started the tradition of senior class play that continues today.
In 1967, the second major building expansion occurred with the building of the 200 building, or The Geiman Connector. This was an addition of four new classrooms, which included a new science lab, adjacent to the previous 3 classrooms built in 1961.
In the fall of 1972, Bishop Brossart High School won the first of many state championships in school history. The boys cross country team landed the teams and school’s first title. Since that state title the school has gone on to win 26 state championships, including 10 in boys cross country. This was the beginning of the excellence that is Mustang Athletics.
In 1978, Tom Seither is named the 10th principal of Bishop Brossart High School. Tom will go on to serve as principal for 36 years and retired after the 2008 school year with 43 years of service to Bishop Brossart. Under Tom’s guidance, the expansion of Bishop Brossart continued. In 1985, the new cafeteria, Hegenauer Hall, named after Rev. John Hegenauer, and the new gym, the Thomas Seither Sports Center opened. The growth of Bishop Brossart continued in 1991 with the addition of our new kitchen.
In 1992, Bishop Brossart High School became an accredited high school through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and continues to be the organization we are accredited through as are all schools or our Diocese of Covington.
In 1995 saw the next addition to our campus with the opening of the 2 story, 15-classroom Crouch Center. This year also saw the end of the original school building, built in 1922, as it was torn down as part of the addition. Also in 1995 we saw Ms. Dorothy Muehlenkamp established first of four Charitable Remainder Trusts that provide annual tuition assistance scholarships.
Our girls track team took our schools athletic traditions and took them to a new level in 1997. The girls team won their first of 6 consecutive state titles. From 1997 through 2002 our girls won the title under Dave Schuh’s leadership.
The year 2000 was another exciting year to be a Mustang. In March of that year something that most never thought they would see occured. Our Bishop Brossart Mustangs boys basketball team won the regional tournament and played in the Boy’s Sweet Sixteen tournament in Rupp Arena. Not only did our boys play, but they won their first game before losing in the Elite Eight. In 2000, we also saw the expansion of our campus with the purchase of the former Alexandria Firehouse.
Not to be out done by our boy’s basketball team, our girl’s basketball team in 2001 also won the 10th region basketball title. They advanced to play in the girl’s sweet sixteen tournament themselves. That year we also had an unbelievable feat accomplished when Katie Schwegmann was named Mrs. Kentucky in basketball. This is the highest honor given to the top player in the entire state of Kentucky.
During this time of 2000-2001 and 2002-2003, Bishop Brossart High School peeked in its enrollment. During those two school years, the enrollment at BBHS was 435 students.
2008 saw BBHS take steps into our future with the purchase of 25.5 acres of land at the beginning of Gilbert Ridge Road in Alexandria. This land will hold the future athletic complex which will include a football/track/soccer stadium and baseball and softball fields.
In April of 2013, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the latest expansion of our campus. In August of 2014, students began the school year using this most recent expansion which included the Munninghoff Family Performing Arts Center, St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, Library, offices, and other new facilities.
In April 2016, the new addition was named the Wilfred H. Neltner Center as a sign of our appreciation of his gift to help make the addition a reality. In the fall of 2017, we began to see the future athletic complex, the Mustang Athletic Complex (MAC), become a reality. The Fall of 2019 was our opening of the MAC as we hosted Girl’s Soccer, Boy’s Soccer and Football all in the same week. The Spring of 2021 allowed us to host our very first Track and Field meets at the MAC.