Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School

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Bishop O'Connell High School
O'Connell Logo
Established 1957
Type Parochial Secondary
Affiliation Roman Catholic
President Barry Edward Breen
Principal Richard J. Martin
Students Approx. 1,440[1]
Grades 9–12
Location Arlington, Virginia USA
Oversight Diocese of Arlington
Campus Suburban
Colors Navy Blue and Silver
Mascot The Knights
Yearbook The Shield
Newspaper The Visor
Website O'Connell High School (official)

Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as "DJO"[2]) was founded in 1957 in Arlington, Virginia and was operated by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, but has been under the direction of the Diocese of Arlington since 1974. It is a Catholic college preparatory school and is the only private high school in Arlington County. Although it is located in North Arlington, the students enrolled come from all over the DC Metro area, including Maryland, Washington, D.C., and students in Virginia from over six cities and counties. Currently, around 1,440 students are enrolled. The Immaculate Heart of Mary Order of nuns assists lay teachers in instructing the students.

Contents

[edit] Administration

The School Administration is divided into two levels. The president of the school is responsible for fundraising, long-term campus goals and projects, and non-academic properties of the school. The principal is responsible for academics and day-to-day activities.

[edit] Academics

98% of all graduates of Bishop O'Connell move on to college and 100% of students graduate on average.

[edit] Advanced Placement Program

O'Connell High School (frontal view)
Enlarge
O'Connell High School (frontal view)

These AP Courses are offered to students:[3]

Social Studies:

  1. European History
  2. United States History
  3. United States Government
  4. Comparative Government

Science:

  1. Biology
  2. Chemistry
  3. Physics B
  4. Physics C (Electricity & Magnetism)[4]
  5. Physics C (Mechanics)[4]
  6. Environmental Science

Language:

  1. English Language and Literature
  2. Spanish Language and Literature
  3. French Language
  4. German Language
  5. Latin: Vergil

Fine Arts:

  1. Studio Art: Drawing
  2. Art History
  3. Music Theory

Mathematics:

  1. Calculus AB
  2. Calculus BC
  3. Statistics

Others:

  1. Psychology
  2. Microeconomics[5]
  3. Macroeconomics[5]
  4. Computer Science

[edit] Honors Program

O'Connell main driveway and bus port
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O'Connell main driveway and bus port

Honors classes are also offered in a variety of academic areas. These courses are offered at the honors level:[6]

  • Accounting 1
  • Advanced Art
  • Algebra 2/Trigonometry
  • Analysis
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • English
  • French 3 and 4
  • Geometry
  • German 3 and 4
  • Intro to Humanities
  • Latin 3 and 4
  • Physics
  • Spanish 3 and 4
  • Spanish for Speakers 4
  • Special Topics in Religious Thought
  • Symphonic Band
  • U.S. Government
  • U.S. History
  • World History

[edit] Activities

[edit] 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. Historically, the school's athletic rival has been Paul VI Catholic High School, located in Fairfax. Bishop Ireton High School, located in Alexandria, is also one of O'Connell's athletic rivals.

[edit] Basketball

[edit] Boys Varsity Team

These are some statistics from the last five years of O'Connell Varsity Boys Basketball:[7]

[edit] Notable Alumni[8]

[edit] Soccer

[edit] Girls Varsity Soccer

The O'Connell Girls Varsity Soccer team held the record for being undefeated from (?) to (?). They were National Champions at the high school level in 2004.

[edit] 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 winning streak. The team then lost to Paul VI 2-1 in the semi-final round of the WCAC tournament.

[edit] Swimming

A famous alumnus is swimmer Kate Ziegler. She won the 800 and 1500 long course meter freestyles at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montréal.

[edit] Clubs

O'Connell has over 60 student-operated clubs. Their focuses are generally academic, charitable, and common interest.
These clubs currently include: (listed alphabetically)[9]

  • O'Connell Brothers
  • O'Connell Sisters
  • Pennies for the Poor
  • Photo Club
  • Speech Club
  • St. Ann's Tutors
  • Student Council Association (SCA)
  • Student Trainers
  • Student Ushers

[edit] Charitable Events

[edit] 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. O’Connell 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 $2,900,000 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.

[edit] 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.[10] This year students collected the highest number of cans ever: over 12,600.

[edit] Controversy

The morning of May 7, 2002, on D.C. metro area shock jock Elliot Segal's radio program, DC101's "Elliot in the Morning", two sixteen-year-old O'Connell students called to be considered in a contest whose winners were to be cage dancers at an upcoming Kid Rock concert at George Mason University's Patriot Center. Instead, goaded by Elliot, they discussed alleged sexual activity at O'Connell. The students, who claimed to be eighteen, discussed giving oral sex to lines of boys in the hallway and having intercourse in stairwells and closets.[11] They implied these acts occurred during a typical school day. The students, who had used false names on air, were suspended the same day for their comments.[12] The principal addressed the student body on the PA system and discussed the immorality of Mr. Segal's radio show. The following day (May 8th), Mr. Segal, angered by the students' suspension, personally insulted the principal on air, making lewd remarks about his family and his sexual activity. He also mocked the school's mission statement, specifically what he considered to be a hypocritical statement that their educational environment is "rooted in the life of Christ."[13] 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. [14]

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Statistical information gathered from O'Connell's official site's O'Connell: History & Enrollment page.
  2. ^ "DJO" is an abbreviation for "Denis J. O'Connell."
  3. ^ Advanced placement course listings taken from Academics: AP Program on O'Connell's official site.
  4. ^ a b Only offered as a combined AP Physics C Electromagnetism and Mechanics class
  5. ^ a b Only offered as a combined Macro/Micro Economics class
  6. ^ Honors course listing found on individual department pages within O'Connell's Academics: Available Courses page.
  7. ^ Statistics taken from O'Connell Boys Basketball page.
  8. ^ Information about varsity basketball alumni status taken from O'Connell Boy's Basketball official site.
  9. ^ Club names/info taken from O'Connell Clubs Page
  10. ^ O'Connell Admissions Page
  11. ^ Atlantic Magazine Article on Elliot in the Morning [1]
  12. ^ FCC Transcript of Elliot in the morning's offensive material form May 7th and 8th of 2002 [2]
  13. ^ Quote taken from O'Connell Website's Mission & Beliefs page.
  14. ^ FCC announcement of Elliot in the morning fine, released October 2, 2003 [3]
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