Bishop Lynch High School

Bishop Lynch High School is a college preparatory school of the Diocese of Dallas (grades 9-12) founded by the Dominican Order in east Dallas, Texas (USA). It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas. It opened in 1963 with 365 students and now has over 1,000 students. In keeping with its Dominican tradition, the school mascot is a Friar and the colors are black and white. It was designated a Blue Ribbon School by the Texas Department of Education in 1991 and 1998.

History

In 1963 Bishop Lynch High School was founded in honor of Bishop Joseph Patrick Lynch. Originally, the school was co-institutional, with the main building divided down the middle of its square floor plan into a boys' half and a girls' half. Therefore, the male bathrooms are on one half of the main building and the women's room on the other. The school is now co-educational.

Campus

The Bishop Lynch campus was built with five main hallways: Ferguson Hall, Pokedex hall, and Inadale hall. Later, The newest Heritage Hall was built to be extra and branch from Ferguson. The courtyard houses a greenhouse, a Shakespeare garden, and a memorial to Bishop Lynch students who have died while attending.

Also notable is the Golf Garden. This space is maintained by the Golf Team as a popular destination for students who seek fresh air, seniors who eat outside, and all students during late start days and after school. It frequently showcases student sculpture on its lawn.

The Atrium is where many pieces of hanging artwork are displayed, as well as where students congregate before and after classes. Off the Atrium is the St. Catherine's Chapel. Students may go there either for confession or an abbreviated Mass in the mornings.

The gym, located adjacent to the Cafeteria, is fairly modern. It contains Bishop Lynch's more than 60 victory banners collected over its 40 year history. It has facilities for boys, girls, and teams.

The VPA (Visual Performing Arts) center houses art studio classrooms as well as a newly renovated dance space. Several classrooms, including those for health and some language classes, are also located in the building. Behind the VPA is the Band Hall.

There are four different sports fields at BL. The first is the softball field located at the end of the school facing Heritage Hall. It is commonly used as a practice field by the band, colorguard, and soccer team during the summer. The second is the baseball field located behind the football stadium and to the left of the football practice field. The stadium is where the soccer, football, and track teams play, and where the band, colorguard, and brigade perform.

Academics and the Arts

Bishop Lynch was designated a Blue Ribbon School by the Texas Department of Education in 1991 and 1998.

The school offers over 50 Dual-Enrollment and Advanced Placement Course opportunities. Dual Enrollment classes allow college credit to be earned in the high school classroom in association with Eastfield College.

The school runs on an academic block schedule with A days and B days. Each day consists of four 90 minute classes which meet every other day, with eight classes in all. This scheduling structure allows for more intensive, comprehensive, and concentrated classes. The students also enjoy the additional homework time, since there's no such thing as "assigned today, due tomorrow."

The Bishop Lynch TAPPS Academic team of 2008-2009, composed of volunteer student competitors from specialties such as Computer Science and Mathematics to Persuasive Speaking and Literary Criticism, brought home the team State Title for the fifth straight year with individual state champions in Spelling, Literary Criticism, Science, Physics, Chemistry, Number Sense, Mathematics, and Advanced Mathematics.^[2]

The school serves as a fine arts center of the Dallas Catholic secondary schools. Bishop Lynch has symphonic and marching bands; eight award-winning choirs; two dance teams; Brigade(Varsity); Silver Cadettes(JV); and an extensive visual arts program, all of which participate in TPSMEA competitions yearly. The school is typically represented in all-region and all-state band and choir competitions. In addition, the spring musical of Bishop Lynch draws a significant portion of the student body as participants.

The annual academic, artistic, and athletic achievements of TAPPS member schools are charted in a "school-of-the-year" contest. The results are compiled and the school with the most points is recognized as the overall champion.^[3] Bishop Lynch has won the distinction in the following school years: 1995-1996, 1997–1998, 1999–2000 and every school year since.^[4]

Athletics

Bishop Lynch is a member of TAPPS and participates in the 6A classification, the largest in the league.

In its history the school's football team has won one TCIL (1988) and five TAPPS (1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003) state championships.^[5] Their principal rivals are Trinity Christian Academy and Nolan Catholic High School.

The Lady Friar volleyball team has won 5 state titles, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Coach Tricia Roos also received the 2008, 2009, and 2010 District Coach of the Year award.

The Lady Friar basketball team has won 24 state titles, including 19 of the past 20 and a streak of 12 straight which ended in 2000. In 2008, Coach Andy Zihlman was named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association high school Coach of the Year.

The wrestling program has won the state championship in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. In 2005 and 2008, the school also won the Prep State championship, a contest between TAPPS and SPC schools.^[6][7] The Friars wrestling team also placed second at the Prep National wrestling tournament in 2005 and 2006; the school placed 5th in 2007, and 2nd in 2008.^[8]

Notable alumni

• Gene Nichol, '69, former president of the College of William and Mary, former dean of the University of North Carolina School of Law and the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School.
• Jim McIngvale, '69, aka Mattress Mack, founder of Gallery Furniture and owner of the Westside Tennis Club in Houston.^[9]
• Michael Duca, '70, Bishop of Shreveport^[10]
• Richard (Ritchie) Martin, '85, won a Grammy Award during ceremonies on Sunday, February 11, 2007. This is a project^[11] that Mr. Martin began working on about ten years ago, researching and collecting old wax cylinders. He would remaster them and record them on CD.
• Stephen Howard '88, former professional basketball player, played from 1992 to 1998 in the NBA for the Utah Jazz, the Toronto Raptors, the San Antonio Spurs and the Seattle SuperSonics.^[12]
• Nick Garcia, '97, professional soccer player, played for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer until 2010.^[13]
• Ryan Moats, '02, former running back for Houston Texans^[14]
• Evan Gattis, '04, catcher for the Atlanta Braves^[15]

Notes

External links

• Official Site