Bishop O'Dowd High School is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, co-educational, college preparatory school in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, administered by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland The Diocese of Oakland ( la, Diœcesis Quercopolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern California. The diocese comprises Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Th ...

and named for the late auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, James T. O'Dowd (1907–1950). The school requires all students to attend school liturgies (

Catholic Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...

and prayer services), to enroll in religious studies courses each semester, and to complete its 4-year service learning program. O’Dowd is a Catholic high school community of 1,212 students. The school has 129 faculty and staff members and more than 82 part-time coaches, teachers and moderators.

History

Bishop O’Dowd High School is named in memory of the former Superintendent of Schools of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Bishop James T. O’Dowd, who died at the age of 42 from injuries sustained in a train accident. Having just helped to establish

Marin Catholic Marin Catholic High School (familiarly known as MC) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in unincorporated Kentfield in Marin County, California. The school is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco. It was fou ...

and Riordan high schools, O'Dowd was in the process of drawing up plans for a new Catholic high school in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

at the time of his sudden death. Bishop O'Dowd's first senior class graduated in 1955, and since then O'Dowd has had over 12,000 graduates. In June 2010, O’Dowd successfully completed a three-year, $9 million comprehensive fundraising campaign and funds raised were split about evenly between capital development and program enhancement. Funds contributed to renovation of many elements of the classroom buildings — from floors to ceilings, interior and exterior, every classroom, lab and locker, from ventilation to technology infrastructure.

Athletics

In 2015, the men's basketball team won the

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

Open Division Championship and the women's team won the Division III CIF State Championship. The men's team was led by

Ivan Rabb Ivan Charles Rabb Jr. (born February 4, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears. Growing up in California, h ...

, the no. 8 player in the country. As of 2015, O'Dowd's basketball team was ranked 13th nationally.

Programs and extracurricular activities

* 21

AP course Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

s * 10 Honor Courses * Athletics: 61 teams, 16 sports * 4 musical groups * Student clubs: 40+ * Students spend a minimum of 100 hours in community service by graduation * Center for Environmental Studies (a building) * The Living Lab – a 4.857 1/2 acre student-built vegetable and botanical garden

Awards

Bishop O'Dowd High School was recognized as a

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

in 1990–1991.http://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/awardwinners/1982_2015_nbrs_schools.pdf

Alumni

The Matches The Matches are an American rock band from Oakland, California, active from 1997 to 2009. Formed as the Locals, the group changed their name after five years to avoid conflict with a Chicago band of the same name. As the Matches, they self-release ...

, pop-punk band * Alijah Vera-Tucker, football player *

Tarik Glenn Tarik Glenn (born May 25, 1976) is a former American football offensive tackle who played 10 seasons for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).. He played college football for California and was drafted by the Colts in t ...

, football player * Jevon Holland, football player * Jasmine Guillory, novelist *

Maya Harris Maya Lakshmi Harris (born January 30, 1967) is an American lawyer, public policy advocate, and writer. Harris was one of three senior policy advisors for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign's policy agenda and she also served as chair o ...

, lawyer & writer *

, basketball player * Kevin King, football player *

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

, basketball player *

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (born February 19, 1978) is an American director, writer, actor, and musician. He is a founding member of the punk band Link 80 and co-creator of the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and Radio Silence. He is best know ...

, musician and filmmaker *

Michael A. Goorjian Michael Andranik Goorjian (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor, filmmaker, and writer. Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini ...

, actor & filmmaker *

Kirk Morrison Kirk David Morrison (born February 19, 1982) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft and also played for the Jacksonville Jagu ...

, football linebacker & radio analyst *

Brandon Ashley Brandon Damon Allen Ashley (born July 15, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Altiri Chiba of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona. High school career Ashley attended Bishop O ...

, basketball player *

Tyson Ross Tyson William Ross (born April 22, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Detroit Tigers. Ross was drafte ...

, baseball player * Langston Walker, football player * Grady Livingston, college basketball player * Jeff Kobernus, baseball player *

Dennis Montali Dennis Montali (born May 20, 1940) is an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States bankruptcy judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. Early life and education Montali was born in 19 ...

, bankruptcy judge * Meghan Kalkstein, broadcast journalist * Sean Aaberg, comics artist *

Burl Toler III Burl Tamayo Toler III (born April 7, 1983) is a former Arena football wide receiver. He was originally signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Cal. He is currently the wide receivers coac ...

, football player *

Ryan Drese Ryan Thomas Drese (born April 5, 1976) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Career He is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley and Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. During a 6-year major league base ...

, baseball player *

Eric Bjornson Eric Thomas Bjornson (born December 15, 1971) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 1995 NFL Dr ...

, football player *

Alexi Pappas Alexi Pappas or Alexia Pappa (Greek Αλεξία Παππά; born 28 March 1990) is a Greek-American runner, filmmaker, actor, and writer. Pappas was an NCAA All-American athlete at both Dartmouth College and the University of Oregon. She repre ...

, runner, filmmaker, actor, & author *

Luis Scott-Vargas Luis Scott-Vargas (born February 17, 1983), commonly known as LSV, is a professional ''Magic: the Gathering'' player from Oakland, California, USA, currently living in Denver, Colorado. His accomplishments include fifteen Grand Prix Top 8s (fiv ...

, game designer and member of the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame

Footnotes

External links

Official Bishop O'Dowd High School website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1951 Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland Catholic secondary schools in California High schools in Oakland, California 1951 establishments in California