In the late 1950s, a group of Catholic parents approached the Bishop of Detroit requesting that a Catholic school be opened in Oakland County. Given the significant growth that the county had experienced in the 1950s, the parishioners of Holy Name, Saint Bede, Saint Hugo, Saint Regis and Our Lady Queen of Martyrs needed a local Catholic High School to attend. The archdiocese owned 30 acres of property on Lahser Rd. in Birmingham that was identified as the ideal location for a Catholic school.
During a visit to New York on St. Patrick’s Day in 1957, Cardinal Mooney was favorably impressed by a band from a Christian Brothers Catholic High School in New York and inquired further about their leadership. Shortly thereafter, he invited the Christian Brothers to staff and administer the high school that was being planned for in Birmingham.
Brother Rice High School opened its doors in the fall of 1960 with 200 freshmen and six Christian Brothers led by Br. Norbert Hueller as Principal. Four years later, the school had approximately 800 young men receiving a Catholic college preparatory education.
The 1964 Yearbook made the following observation:
“For Brother Rice High School in the fall of 1960, there were no ancestors; there was no past. The quest for tradition was beginning at the zero mark. The dividends derived from the bits of ideals, directions, and policies carefully gleaned from four years experiences were long in coming, but they are now beginning to be reaped.”
Over the last 50 years, Brother Rice has established itself as one of the premier academic schools in the state. Focusing on educating and developing a young man’s soul, body, and mind, they have been recognized as the area’s premier school for a combination of academic excellence, faith development, and athletic success.
100% of the school’s graduates are accepted to a four-year college. Since 1964, Brother Rice has graduated over 9,750 alumni who are known as the Band of Brothers. The alumni are a part of the school’s legacy of leaders and play a prominent role as leaders of industry, education, faith, and family. Brother Rice alumni are represented in every state across the United States and in over 20 countries around the world.