Damien High School is an all-boys

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in La Verne, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

named for Saint Damien of

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

. The school had its first graduating class in 1963. Each of Damien's freshmen classes draws from an average of over 75 different elementary and junior high schools for youths from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

counties. It is located in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...

. It is a part of the tri-school community including St. Lucy's Priory High School and

Pomona Catholic High School Pomona Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic, co-ed middle school and all-girls high school in Pomona, California, established in 1898. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It is a part of the tri-school comm ...

History

The school opened in 1959 as Pomona Catholic Boys High School and was renamed in 1967 as Damien High School, in honor of St. Damien de Veuster, SS.CC., who was canonized by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on Sunday October 11, 2009. The Sacred Heart Fathers have staffed and administered the school since its beginning in La Verne. The courage and capacity for self-sacrifice in the cause of others, is encouraged as an impetus toward social causes in the lives of Damien's students. In 1996, a new swimming pool and locker room were constructed. Six new tennis courts were also built near the priests' residence and a new ticket/snack bar/rest room facility was built in Spartan Stadium. A new gymnasium, The Travers Cronin Athletic Center, was opened in 2006. In 2008, the Spartan Stadium was renovated. It now includes an all weather track and FieldTurf. Spartan Stadium was renamed "Dick Larson Stadium" in honor of the school's longtime football coach. 2010 brought a renovation of the football stadium, including the installation of a new scoreboard and stadium seating. The stadium was officially named "Tom Carroll Stadium," in honor of Damien's Athletic Director of 37 years. In 2014, Damien and St. Lucy's Priory High School were moved from the Sierra League, where they had competed since 1998, to the Baseline League. The League consists of Damien/St. Lucy's, Chino Hills, Etiwanda, Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga, and Upland. In 2015, the basketball team won the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...

State championship (Division III) by defeating Campolindo High of Moraga (CIF North Coast Section) by the score of 70-57 at

Haas Pavilion The Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion is an indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley, California. It is the home venue of the Golden Bears men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, a ...

on the campus of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

School activities

Policy Debate Team

The Damien

Policy Debate Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...

team won the 2009 National Debate Coach's Association National Championship, the 2009

National Forensic League The National Speech and Debate Association is an American student debating society. It was established in 1925 as the National Forensic League; the name was changed in 2014. It is one of four major national organizations that direct high school ...

National Tournament, and the inaugural Unger Cup, the award given to the "nation's most successful high school debate squad." Damien qualified 4 teams to the TOC in 2009, more than any other school in the nation. A school team won the National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA) Tournament, in 2011, making Damien the first school to win the NDCA twice.

Student Spaceflight Experiments Program

Damien High School was one of 23 communities involved with Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP's) Mission 7 to send a science experiment to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. The experiment was originally aboard the SpaceX-7 rocket launched on June 28, 2015 which exploded 2 minutes into launch. The experiment was successfully re-flown on the SpaceX CRS-8 (SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket; Dragon spacecraft) on April 8, 2016, and docked with the International Space Station two days later. The experiment studies the effects of

tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ...

s in a microgravity environment.

Tri-School Community

Damien High School is a part of the "tri-school" community existing between St. Lucy's Priory High School and

. Numerous dances and functions are coordinated between the three schools during the school year. Additionally, financial incentives exist for parents who have multiple children attending these schools.

Notable alumni

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

(né Brian Carroll), guitarist, musician, composer *

Chukwudi Chijindu Chukwudi Ibegbunaneke 'Chuck' Chijindu (born February 20, 1986) is an American professional soccer player. Career Youth A native of Fontana, California, Chijindu attended Damien High School in La Verne, California, He was a 4-year Varsity lette ...

, professional soccer player (

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

) * Casey Dailey, former NFL football player *

Nick Davila Nick Davila (born May 22, 1985) is an arena football quarterback who is currently a free agent. A three-time AFL champion, and three-time MVP, he also played for the Arizona Rattlers from 2010 to 2016. Davila is of Mexican American descent. He is ...

, professional football player ( Arizona Rattlers);

ArenaBowl XXV ArenaBowl XXV was the 25th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League. The National Conference champion, Arizona Rattlers, defeated the American Conference champion, Philadelphia Soul, 72–54. The game was played on August 10, 201 ...

Champion *

Rick Davis Richard Dean Davis (born November 24, 1958) is an American former soccer midfielder, and former captain of the U.S. National Team for much of the 1980s. He is considered by fans the best U.S.-born player of the North American Soccer League er ...

, retired professional soccer player (

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

); captain of the 1984 Olympic soccer team * Bill Duffy, sports agent *

Brian Dunseth Brian William “Dunny” Dunseth (born March 2, 1977) is an American television soccer commentator and former player. Career College Dunseth played college soccer at California State University, Fullerton, and was one of the first players t ...

, retired professional soccer player; television commentator *

Joe Franchino Joe Franchino (born August 9, 1976, in Fontana, California) is an American former soccer player. Youth and college Franchino played youth club soccer in Alta Loma, CA for such competitive teams as the Aztecs and Arsenal. His first club team, th ...

, retired professional soccer player * Mike Hunter, retired professional soccer player *

Chris Jakubauskas Christopher James Jakubauskas (born December 22, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles. College career Jakubauskas ...

– Professional baseball player,

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

* Ian Johnson, retired professional football player (

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

) *

Stephen G. Larson Stephen Gerard Larson (born October 26, 1964) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California and a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Larson LLP, which he co-founded in 2016 ...

, attorney; former United States Federal judge * Cory Lekkerkerker, retired professional football player *

Joe Lunardi Joseph Lunardi is an American college basketball analyst for ESPN. He was born in Philadelphia, attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, as well as Damien High School in CA, and is a Saint Joseph's University alumnus. Lunardi ...

, ESPN NCAA Basketball Bracketologist *

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardi ...

, retired professional baseball player, MLB coach *

Mike Morrell Mike Morrell (born October 14, 1952) is an American politician who served in the California State Senate from 2014 to 2020. He was elected as a Republican to the California State Assembly in 2010, and won a special election to the State Senate ...

, California state senator *

Daniel Moskos Daniel Ross Moskos (born April 28, 1986) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011, and is currently the assistant pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball ...

, professional baseball player *

Frank Pastore Frank Enrico Pastore (; August 21, 1957 – December 17, 2012) was an American Major League Baseball player and radio host. He pitched for the Cincinnati Reds from 1979 until 1985 and for the Minnesota Twins in 1986, and was in the Texas R ...

, retired professional baseball player *

Cody Ponce Cody Joe Ponce (born April 25, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college b ...

, professional baseball player * William Saito, special advisor for the government of Japan in charge of science & technology; entrepreneur *

Dennis Shaw Dennis Wendell Shaw (born March 3, 1947) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, and the Kansas City Chiefs. College career Shaw played college f ...

, retired professional football player; 1970 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year * Geoff Vanderstock, former world record holder

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

* Tristan Vizcaino, professional football player *

Larry Wilmore Elister Larry WilmoreThe name Elister L. Wilmore is given at This matches the birth date and birthplace for "Larry Wilmore" at (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspo ...

, comedian, writer (''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'')

References

External links

Damien High School Website
{{authority control Roman Catholic secondary schools in Los Angeles County, California Boys' schools in California La Verne, California Educational institutions established in 1959 Catholic secondary schools in California 1959 establishments in California