Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School
Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as "DJO) was founded in 1957 in Arlington County, Virginia. It was operated by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, but has been under the direction of the Diocese of Arlington since 1974. The school is named for Bishop Denis J. O'Connell, a bishop of the Diocese of Richmond during the early 1900s.
It is a Catholic college preparatory school and is the only private high school in Arlington County. Though it is located in North Arlington, students come from all over the DC metro area including Maryland, Washington, D.C., and over six cities and counties of Virginia. Over 1400 students are enrolled for the 2007-2008 school year, making it the largest private high school in the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Academics
98% of all graduates of Bishop O'Connell move on to college and 100% of students graduate on average.Advanced Placement Program
These AP Courses are offered to students:
Honors Program
Honors classes are also offered in a variety of academic areas. These courses are offered at the honors level:
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Activities
Athletics
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
Since the mid-1980s, the school's primary athletic rival has been Paul VI Catholic High School, located in Fairfax. In the past year, rivalries have sometimes resulted in high tensions between the schools.DeMatha Catholic High School, located in Hyattsville, Maryland, is another rival, particularly in boys basketball. Bishop Ireton High School, located in Alexandria, is also one of O'Connell's rivals.
Basketball
Boys Varsity Team
These are some statistics from the last five years of O'Connell Varsity Boys Basketball:
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Soccer
Girls Varsity Soccer
The O'Connell Girls Varsity Soccer team held the record for being undefeated from (12) to (12). They were National Champions at the high school level in 2004.Boys Varsity Soccer
The boys soccer team defeated the 19-0-1 DeMatha Stags on October 31, 2006 in the conference quarter-finals. The victory prevented DeMatha, who at one point this season was ranked number 1 in the nation, from winning their 4th straight WCAC title. This resulted in the defeat of DeMatha's 67 game unbeaten streak. The team then lost to Paul VI 2-1 in the semi-final round of the WCAC tournament.Clubs
O'Connell has over 60 student-operated clubs. Their focuses are generally academic, charitable, and common interest. These clubs currently include: (listed alphabetically)
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Charitable Events
Superdance
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. Her sister Maura was a senior in 1976 and also had cystic fibrosis. Their brother, Sean, died of cystic fibrosis that same year.
Maura 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 said:
“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 too died of this disease.
Since 1989, when the CF gene was discovered, scientists have been writing a remarkable medical success story. CF researchers are quickly translating what they learn about the CF gene and CF cells in the laboratory, into promising new treatments. Based on their success, landmark gene therapy studies and clinical trials on new drug treatments are now underway. In the years that O’Connell has held the Superdance, the life expectancy of a CF patient has doubled. Over the past thirty years, O'Connell students have raised over $3,000,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for the disease. By investing in CF research, you are investing in the lives of those with the disease. Working together, we can give the children and young adults with CF the quality of life and the future they deserve.
Bishop Denis J. O'Connell's Superdance is the largest high school fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in the nation, and one of the largest high school fundraising events in the country.
Chunky Soup Drive
The Chunky Soup Drive is held annually throughout the month of October. Students have a month to collect as many cans of Chunky Soup as possible. At the end of the month, all cans are collected and donated to Christ House homeless shelter in Alexandria, Virginia. According to the school, this event yields over 8,000 cans of soup each year. This year students collected the highest number of cans ever: over 12,600.Notable Alumni
- Michael E. Lillis (1981): Economist, notable for theories on Average Total Costs.
- Bryan Louiselle (1984): Music Adaptation and Arrangement, notable for Disney's High School Musical
- Pat McGee (1991): Singer, songwriter, guitarist; founding member and frontman of the Pat McGee Band.
Athletics
Basketball
(References)
- 1991:
- Mark Meyer: Leading scorer in school history (2,275 pts)
Football
- Eric Metcalf: University of Texas, Cleveland Browns (retired)
- Terrence Wilkins: University of Virginia, Indianapolis Colts
- Casey Crawford: University of Virginia, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Gibran Hamdan: Indiana University, Buffalo Bills
Soccer
- John Arsala (1995):
- Played for Boston University (ranked #1 nationally by Soccer America at the time in NCAA Division 1)
- Member of the United States Olympic Development Program
- After college, played professionally in Europe for Polonia Warsaw
Swimming
- Kate Ziegler (2006):
- Won the 800 and 1500 meter freestyles at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Canada
- Set the American record for the 1650 freestyle
- Earned a gold medal in the 800 and 1,500 meter freestyle events at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia
- Holds the World record in the Women's 1500 meter freestyle
Eliott in the Morning
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. Wanting to be contestants, two sixteen-year-old O'Connell students, claiming to be eighteen, called the show. Instead of discussing the contest, the students discussed alleged sexual activity at O'Connell. The students, who had used false names on air, were suspended the same day for their comments. The principal addressed the student body over the PA system and criticized the content of that morning's show. The following day (May 8th), Mr. Segal, angered by the students' suspension, personally insulted the principal on air, making lewd insinuations about his family. He also mocked the school's mission statement.The two days of broadcasting were ruled indecent by the FCC. As a result, in October 2003, sixteen months after the incident, DC101's parent company Clear Channel Communications was fined $55,000.
External links
- Bishop O'Connell High School (official site)
- Bishop O'Connell Virtual Tour
- DJO Alumni Website
- Superdance Official Website
Footnotes
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday October 07, 2008 at 00:38:01 PDT (GMT -0700)
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