Bishop O'Connell High School
Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as DJO[3]) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school founded in 1957 in Arlington County, Virginia. It was established by the Diocese of Richmond, but it has been under the direction of the Diocese of Arlington since 1974. The school is named for Bishop Denis J. O'Connell, Bishop of Richmond from 1912 to 1926.
| Bishop O'Connell High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| , 22213 United States | |
| Coordinates | 38°53′41″N 77°09′40″W / 38.894753°N 77.161094°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Parochial; Private |
| Established | 1957 |
| Oversight | Diocese of Arlington |
| Principal | Frank Roque |
| Head of school | William Crittenberger |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Enrollment | Approx. 1,100[2] (2017) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 14:1[2] |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Royal Blue and Silver Grey |
| Athletics conference | Washington Catholic Athletic Conference |
| Nickname | Knights, O’Connell, DJO, OC |
| Rival | Paul VI Catholic High School |
| Accreditation | Southern Association of Colleges and Schools[1] |
| Newspaper | The Visor |
| Yearbook | The Shield |
| Website | bishopoconnell |
Brief History edit
On September 9, 1957, under the auspices of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School opened its doors as a co-institutional college preparatory school, admitting 360 ninth-graders. Greeting the class of 1961 were Brothers of Christian Schools and Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), who would guide their education. Since then, Bishop O'Connell has graduated more than 18,000 men and women. Today, the school serves the students from more than 80 different schools throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Academics edit
Bishop O'Connell High School holds high expectations for its students, faculty, and staff. The academic program is organized around required courses that aim to achieve desired learning goals for each student. All students follow a demanding college preparatory curriculum designed to ready them for admission to the leading colleges and universities. The Muller Academic Services Program provides support for students with documented learning disabilities. Coursework is available at the Honors and Advanced Placement levels. Dual credit and dual enrollment opportunities are also available through a partnership with Marymount University. The Global Studies Certificate Program offers optional beyond-the-classroom learning experiences focused on themes of world importance. The school also offers Expanded Services for students with intellectual and cognitive disabilities.
Advanced Placement Program edit
These AP Courses are offered to students:[4]
| Others: |
Honors Program edit
Honors classes are also offered in a variety of academic areas. These courses are offered at the honors level:[7]
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Activities edit
Athletics edit
Bishop O'Connell High School participates in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). In this league, O'Connell participates in all major sports against other Catholic high schools of the D.C. metro area.
Rivalries edit
Since the mid-1980s, the school's primary athletic rival has been Paul VI Catholic High School, located in Chantilly.
Bishop Ireton High School, located in Alexandria, Virginia, is another major athletic rival.
Basketball edit
Boys' Varsity Team edit
These are some statistics from the last five years of O'Connell Varsity Boys' Basketball:[8]
Soccer edit
The Girls' Varsity Soccer team were National Champions in 2004.[9]
Clubs edit
O'Connell has over 100 student-organized clubs. Their focuses are generally academic, service, and/or common interest. Some current clubs include: (listed alphabetically)[10]
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Charitable events edit
Superdance edit
The O'Connell Superdance is an annual 12-hour dance-a-thon held at the school which raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The Superdance is organized and run by students. It was started under the administration of principal Msgr. James McMurtrie. O'Connell students began holding the Superdance in 1976 because students wanted to speed the discovery of a cure for cystic fibrosis (CF), a fatal disease of the lungs which had claimed the life of sophomore Brenda O'Donnell on April 14, 1975.[citation needed] Her sister, Maura, was a senior in 1976 and also suffered from cystic fibrosis.[citation needed] Their brother, Sean, died of cystic fibrosis that same year.[citation needed][when?]
Maura O'Donnell graduated and went on to nursing school at Marymount University, continuing to support the Superdance in hopes that a cure would be found. Her last Superdance was in 1978 when she came out of the hospital just for the event. In a speech delivered to the O'Connell community, she stated:
"All of you I know have dreams – dreams of college, of success, of love and happiness – dreams of the future. We with cystic fibrosis have dreams too. Your wonderful all-out efforts and work for this dance-a-thon may help make some of our dreams come true."
Two months later, she died of this disease.[15]
As of 2018, O'Connell students have raised over $4,300,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for the disease. [16]
Hearty Soup Drive and Living Rosary edit
The Hearty Soup Drive is held annually throughout the month of October. Students have a month to collect as many cans of hearty soup as possible. At the end of the month, cans are collected and donated to the local Catholic Charities food bank. The school collects approximately 10,000 cans of soup each year. At the end of the week, all the cans are displayed on the football field (weather permitting) or inside the auditorium. The student body gathers to celebrate their successful event and pray a special Living Rosary, praying for those who will ultimately benefit from their soup collection.[17]
Notable alumni edit
Arts and entertainment edit
- Mike Brooks (Class of 1973) - Television news correspondent
- Pat McGee (Class of 1991): Singer-songwriter, guitarist; founding member and frontman of the Pat McGee Band[18]
- David Monahan (Class of 1989): Actor
- Mary Catherine “Taffy” Nivert (Class of 1962) - Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter
- Geoff Sprung (Class of 1996) - Member of the band Old Dominion
Athletics edit
Basketball edit
- Keljin Blevins (Class of 2014) - Former Montana State and current Portland Trail Blazers player
- Jason Clark (Class of 2008) - Former Georgetown and current professional player
- Junior Etou (Class of 2014) - Congolese basketball player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Marcus Ginyard (Class of 2005) - Former University of North Carolina[19] and professional player
- Xavier Johnson (Class of 2018) - Former University of Pittsburgh and Indiana University player
- Matt Lewis (Class of 2017) - Former James Madison University[20] and current professional player for the Iowa Wolves
- Kendall Marshall (Class of 2010) - Former University of North Carolina[21] and professional player
- Melo Trimble (Class of 2014) - Former University of Maryland[22] and current professional player
Football edit
- Bob Asher (Class of 1966) - Played for the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears.[23]
- Casey Crawford (Class of 1995) - Former University of Virginia and NFL player, and Super Bowl XXXVII winner with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers;[23] CEO and co-founder of Movement Mortgage
- Gibran Hamdan (Class of 1998) - Former Indiana University and NFL player, played for the Buffalo Bills[24]
- Eric Metcalf (Class of 1985) - Former University of Texas and NFL player and three-time Pro Bowl selection for the Cleveland Browns[23] and Los Angeles Chargers. Was also a college long jumper who won the NCAA National Long Jump Championship in 1986 and 1988
- Kamrin Moore (Class of 2014) - Former Boston College and NFL player, played the New York Giants[25]
- Terrence Wilkins (Class of 1994) - Former University of Virginia and NFL player, and won Super Bowl XLI with the Indianapolis Colts[23]
Soccer edit
- Nataly Arias (Class of 2004) - Member of the Colombia National Soccer team during the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany and the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada. Two-time Olympian representing Colombia in the 2012 Olympics in London, England, and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [26]
- Kika Toulouse (Class of 2007) - Former professional player in the NWSL
Swimming edit
- Kate Ziegler (Class of 2006) - Former world record holder in the 1500m freestyle[27]
Other edit
- Jimmy Lange (Class of 1993) - Former professional boxer
- Mike Storm (Class of 1977) - Former pentathlete and Olympic silver medalist
Politics, law, and military edit
- Edward DeMarco (Class of 1978) - Former acting director of the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA)
- Mark Kimmitt (Class of 1972) - Former Assistant Secretary of State
- Robert Kimmitt (Class of 1965) - Former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Ambassador to Germany
- James Morhard (Class of 1974) - Former Deputy Administrator of NASA and deputy sergeant-at-arms of the U.S. Senate
- James Nealon (Class of 1973) - Former U.S. Ambassador
Controversy edit
On the morning of May 7, 2002, on D.C. metro area shock jock Elliot Segal's radio program, DC101's Elliot in the Morning was conducting a contest. The winners of this contest would be cage dancers at an upcoming Kid Rock concert at George Mason University's Patriot Center. Two sixteen-year-old O'Connell pupils, claiming to be eighteen, called the show, and disclosed alleged sexual activity at O'Connell.[28] The principal addressed pupils over the PA system and criticized the content of the radio show.[29] The two days of broadcasting were ruled indecent by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As a result, in October 2003, sixteen months after the incident, DC101's parent company Clear Channel Communications was fined $55,000.[30]
Footnotes edit
- ^ SACS-CASI. . Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Statistical information gathered from O'Connell's official site's O'Connell: Academic - Profile
- ^ "DJO" is an abbreviation for "Denis J. O'Connell."
- ^ Advanced placement course listings taken from Academics: AP Program May 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine on O'Connell's official site.
- ^ a b Only offered as a combined AP Physics C Electromagnetism and Mechanics class
- ^ a b Only offered as a combined Macro/Micro Economics class
- ^ Honors course listing found on individual department pages within O'Connell's Academics: Available Courses May 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine page.
- ^ Statistics taken from O'Connell Boys' Basketball page October 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ . Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
- ^ Club names/info taken from O'Connell Clubs Page May 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Helping Hands
- ^ Martha's Table
- ^ Pure Love Club
- ^ S.A.V.E.
- ^ Hailey, Jean R. (May 13, 1978). "Sister of 3 Other Victims Dies From Cystic Fibrosis". Washington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "Annual Bishop O'Connell Superdance raises $155,000". INSIDENOVA.COM. March 24, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ DJO SCA [@djo_sca] (October 6, 2017). "Extremely happy to announce that this year we have broken the can count record with a whopping 14,595 cans! Good job O'Connell!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Houk, Steve (February 6, 2012). "Music Notes: Pat McGee's Living Dream". Washington Life.
- ^ El-Bashir, Tarik (December 5, 2004). "Ginyard Has the Goods, Attitude". The Washington Post.
- ^ Fawcett, Dave (November 25, 2020). "After flirting with the NBA, Woodbridge resident, O'Connell graduate Matt Lewis returns as JMU's leader". Inside NOVA. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Breen, Matt (June 27, 2012). "2012 NBA draft: Kendall Marshall stood out at a young age". The Washington Post.
- ^ Bracken, Matt (December 13, 2012). "Melo Trimble, 2014 combo guard, commits to the Terps". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ a b c d Clark, Charlie (August 29, 2012). "Our Man in Arlington". Falls Church News-Press.
- ^ Maske, Mark (May 2, 2003). "A Challenge Getting Here". The Washington Post.
- ^ Facinoli, Dave (May 4, 2018). "O'Connell grad Kamrin Moore drafted by New Orleans Saints". Inside NOVA.
- ^ Goff, Steven (July 18, 2012). "Former All-Met, University of Md. soccer star Nataly Arias gets Olympic chance with Colombia women's soccer team". The Washington Post.
- ^ Lindsay, Drew. "Making of a Winner". Washingtonian Magazine. No. August 2007.
- ^ Atlantic Magazine article on the incident: Air Pollution
- ^ Mission Statement: "Our mission is to provide students an education rooted in the life of Christ and to foster the pursuit of excellence in the whole person." (quoted from O'Connell Website February 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ FCC Announcement of Fine (Released October 2, 2003)
External links edit
- Bishop O'Connell High School (official site)