Bishop Ireton High School

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Bishop Ireton High School
Location
201 Cambridge Road
Alexandria, Virginia, 22314
USA
Information
Oversight Diocese of Arlington
Affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
President N/A
Principal Fr. Matthew J. Hilyard
Enrollment

Approx. 800
Type Parochial Secondary
Grades 9–12
Mascot The Cardinals
Color(s)           Burgundy and Gold
Yearbook Flight
Newspaper THE BI WORD
Established 1964
Homepage http://www.bishopireton.org

Bishop Ireton High School is a Roman Catholic High School located in Alexandria, Virginia. The school was founded in 1964 and at the time, admitted only male students. Bishop Ireton, more commonly known as "BI", was established by the Oblates of St. Francis DeSales, an order of Catholic priests. In 1990 the school merged with sister school St. Mary's Academy, and began taking female students and has since been a coeducational school. Bishop Ireton is known for its focus on the liberal arts. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in a wide range of activities including but not limited to athletics, drama, and band. Bishop Ireton is controlled by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington.

Contents

[edit] Administration

The school is run by the principal, an oblate of St. Francis de Sales. There are two Vice Presidents, one for Student Services, and one for Academic Concerns. The Vice President for Student Services moderates the Office of Student Government. There is also a Dean and an Assistant Dean. The Student Government is organized like this:

Executive Board: Five Members that can consist of Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors. Usually it is mostly Seniors in the E-Board. They run the OSG. There is one President and four Vice Presidents. The class officers are organized as the following: One President and three officers.

  • Seniors: Four members who receive five nominations each year;
  • Juniors: Four members;
  • Sophomores: Four members;
  • Freshman: Four members;

The OSG meets once and week and plans important events like: Homecoming, Adopt a Family, Dress out Day Fundraisers, Winterball, and Sadie Hawkins. They also have a role in Graduation, having the privilege of going first and carrying flags.

The House of Delegates: One member from each Advisory (homeroom). The Executive Board leads the House meetings. The House members then report announcements to their homerooms. The students in Advisory can report concerns to the Delegates, where they can voice their opinons at the House meetings. The House meets every other month.

[edit] Academics

Bishop Ireton High School reported a graduation rate of 100% for the 2006-2007 academic year. Of those graduating seniors, 99% went on to attend a college or university. Students may choose from College Prepatory classes, Honors classes or Advanced Placement.

[edit] Curriculum

Each Department offers challenging courses ranging from CP level to AP. Most of the classes from each department are listed here:

  • Science: Integrated Science (Physical Science), Physics, Chemistry, Biology
  • Social Studies: Government, World History, European History, American History, Geography (Elective), World War I and II (Elective), Law (Elective), Sociology (Elective)
  • Math: Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trigonometry, Statistics, Calculus
  • English: World, European, American, and British Literature, Creative Writing (Elective), Journalism I, II, and III (Elective), Yearbook (Elective), Public Speaking, (Elective)
  • Religion: Morality I and II, Love Sex Marriage and Family, Jewish Scriptures, Church and Sacraments, Community Service
  • Language: French I-V, German I-IV, Spanish I-V, Latin I-IV
  • Computer Science: Introduction to Computers, Webpage Development, Pagemaker, Introduction to Programming, AP Computer Science (Java Computer Language), Financial Decision Making
  • Physical Education: Driver's Education, Weight Training, Weight Lifting, Phys. Ed. I and II, Study of Human Movement
  • Fine Arts: Art, Studio Art, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Chorus, Stage Crew, Costume Class, Art History,), Intro to Theater (Elective), Acting I (Elective), Acting II (Elective), Advanced Theatre Production (Elective)
  • Academic Enrichment: Elective class for struggling students seeking assistance
  • Study Hall: Used to fill gaps within a student's schedule that has less than that of the maximum number of 8 classes in which students study or hang out with friends. There is quiet study for underclassmen in which they cannot talk but only work. Talk study exists for upperclassmen.

There are other Electives that are not listed here. The school offers Honors, and AP classes in Science, History, Math, English, and Fine Arts.

In the 1970s and early 1980s Bishop Ireton experimented with an Education by Appointment model, where students worked at their own pace and were encouraged to explore areas of interest in depth. For some students this model of freedom and opportunity encouraged great academic development; however, for many students the lack of structure and weight of responsibility resulted in poor academic achievement.

This experiment ended with a new principal, Father Walsh, who brought Ireton back to a structured and rigorous curriculum. This included an eight period schedule that rotated so that only seven periods met each day. He instituted uniforms while phasing out a dress code.

The Journalism Class publishes the student-run, monthly newspaper, The BI Word. A website for The BI Word came up in the 2006-2007 school year. Despite no formal announcement, some articles found in the paper make an appearance on the site, with a dedicated archives section. Currently, two articles from each section (News, Feature, Sports and Entertainment) are posted. Bios of the Editors can be found there. Because of time issues, the website is still under construction. This website can be found at http://www.bishopireton.org/BIWord/BIbaseTemplate.html

[edit] Activities

[edit] Athletics

Bishop Ireton competes in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference which is home to schools like Gonzaga College High School and DeMatha Catholic High School. The school has had many student athletes go on to attend college on athletic scholarship. Ireton has several noteworthy "rivals", including:

Bishop Ireton competes in the following sports:

At the club level the school hosts a Field Hockey team, a winter track team and a rugby team. These teams compete just as other sports do at Bishop Ireton, but are not funded directly by the school.

[edit] Clubs

Bishop Ireton offers a wide range of clubs for students to join. This includes:

The Model United Nations Club is headed by Michael Rauer, and is one of the most prestigious Model UN clubs in the Northern Virginia region. The Campus Ministry Squad (CMS) helps organize school Masses and prayer services.

The school features many other clubs which are not listed here.

[edit] Music

The Bishop Ireton Music Department is a highly competitive program which features a choir, an orchestra, and two wind bands, the Concert Band and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Membership in the Wind Ensemble and concert band is audition based. The program was started by Dr. Garwood Whaley and is currently under the leadership of Dr. Randy Eyles. Each spring, Wind Ensemble goes on tour in Europe, and the Concert Band goes on a stateside tour. Last year the Wind Ensemble performed three concerts in Germany, while the Concert Band competed in Fiesta-Val, an invitation only event, in which they placed 2nd, only missing first place by 0.006 points. Concert Band Director was quoted as saying "This never would've happened if only we had our King of the Bells back." Alas, Griffin Wholley aka. King of the Bells graduated years ago. It is rumored that after his graduation in 1997, Doctor Whaley was forced to resign saying "I've seen the best. There will be none greater than Wholley." All claims of a Whaley-Wholley relation have been refuted by both parties. Recently returning from a short stay at West Potomac High School is junior Jack Tierney who is known as the best horn to come through the band since Rob Lowe graduated in 1995.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Dances

  • Homecoming Dance
  • Winter Ball (Bishop Ireton hosts a winter semi-formal dance, the Winter Ball, in which all proceeds benefit their sister school Louverture-Cleary in Haiti)
  • Sadie Hawkins dance
  • Prom

[edit] Senior All Nite Grad Party

Events normally include swimming, laser tag, blackjack, races, obstacle courses, karaoke, and prizes.

[edit] Other

  • Renaissance Faire - Each year sophomores put on a Faire (or Fayre) to teach the teachers and students about life during the Renaissance
  • Fall Drama and Spring Musical
  • Fall, Winter, March, and Spring Band Concerts

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Notable Teachers

  • Vera Ziherman - Competed in the 1980 Olympics for the Soviet Union where she made it to the semi finals in the 4 X 800 relay event.
  • Kevin K. Kulik - Graduated first in his class at Harvard(Class of 69') and graduated Harvard Law summa cum laude. Master of all statistics. Currently lives in Nicaragua.
  • Kuriakose Naduvilekunnel
  • Juanita Krogh
  • Sam "Hey Bud!" Hirt

[edit] Links

v • d • e
Washington Catholic Athletic Conference