Dowling Catholic 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 ...

secondary 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 '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in the central United States, in

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Polk County, Iowa, Polk, Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas, Warren County, Iowa, Warren, and Madison County, Iowa, Madison counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. A majority of the city is located in Polk County, a minority of ...

, within the Diocese of Des Moines. As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,431 students and 94.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 15.1:1. The school's enrollment was 81.2% White, 4.1% Black, 10.2% Hispanic, 4.4% Asian and 0.1% American Indian / Alaska Native.

History

It was created in 1972 by the merger of St. Joseph Academy for girls (established in 1884) and Dowling High School for boys (established in 1918 as the Des Moines College boarding school for boys).

Academics

During the 2003-04 school year, Dowling Catholic High School was recognized with the

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, ...

Award of Excellence by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

, the highest award an American school can receive.

Tuition

Total tuition cost for 2018-2019 is $11,176 plus fees. Tuition for students belonging to a

Catholic Parish In the Catholic Church, a parish ( la, parochia) is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is t ...

is $7,986 plus fees. Tuition for international students is $12,076 plus fees.

Extracurricular activities

Baseball

The Maroons hold the record for most team home runs during a championship game with 5 in 2001.

Boys' basketball

Bobby Hansen Robert Louis Hansen II (born January 18, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A guard, he played nine seasons (1983–1992) in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hansen is currently a commentator for Iowa Hawkeyes ...

who later played at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and nine years in the NBA, was on the 1979 state championship team.

Cross country

Girls

*2007 Girls' Heartland Regional Champions

Boys

Debate

Dowling is the home of the Dowling Catholic Paradigm, one of the largest debate tournaments held by a school. In 2015, Dowling Catholic won 2 state titles for Congressional Debate, 1 for Public Forum debate, and 1 for Lincoln Douglas Debate.

Football

Home games are played at the 9,500 seat

Valley Stadium A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in West Des Moines, Williams Stadium, or at

Drake Stadium Drake Stadium may refer to: * Drake Stadium (1904), a defunct outdoor multiuse sports field at Drake University used from 1904 to 1925 * Drake Stadium (Drake University), an outdoor multiuse sports field at Drake University used from 1925 to present ...

in Des Moines. In 2019, they became the first school in Iowa history to win seven straight championships. Dowling made the playoffs 17 years in a row beginning in 1985 and ending in 2002 when Dowling missed the playoffs. The school won 36 consecutive games in the 1967 through 1971 graduating class seasons. Dowling won 64 consecutive Metro conference games, a streak lasting from 1968 to 1977. In addition to the 64 metro games Dowling also won 57 consecutive conference games lasting from 1993 to 2002. WDM, Valley is Dowling's primary rival since 1968 when the schools joined the Des Moines Metro Conference.

Marching band

At the Eden Prairie: Prairie Colors tournament on October 11, 2008 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Dowling received a first place overall, best drumline, and best winds in the class 2-A competition.

Swimming

The boys' swimming team won four championships, consecutively from 2001 to 2003. The girls' swim team won their first state title during the 2019 season.

Boys' Tennis

Wrestling

*Dowling has won State Dual Wrestling Championships in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 *Dowling has won the State Traditional Wrestling Championship in 1975, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1990, and 1991 *Dowling has the state record for most consecutive dual wins with 136 set from January 1986 to January 1992

Notable alumni

Michael Annett Michael W. Annett (born June 23, 1986) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Racing career Early career Save for a few ...

, professional

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

driver *

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American college basketball player for the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference. She plays the point guard position. At Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark was named a M ...

(class of 2020), college basketball player for the

Amara Darboh Amara Darboh (born February 1, 1994) is an Sierra Leonean-born American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. He played college football at Michigan. A native ...

, wide receiver for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. * Jerry Groom,

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

offensive lineman * Karissa Schweitzer, professional distance runner *

Matt Haack Matthew Scott Haack (born July 25, 1994) is an American football punter for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State. He played his first four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, w ...

, NFL punter *

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

basketball player. *

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Iowa' ...

, United States Senator (Iowa) *

Bob Harlan Robert "Bob" Ernest Harlan (born September 9, 1936) is the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Green Bay Packers, an American professional football team. He is a graduate of Marquette University, where he was the S ...

, former president of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

George Kinley George Raymond Kinley (June 4, 1937 – February 23, 2022) was an American politician in the state of Iowa and a business co-founder and owner. Biography Kinley was born in Akron, Ohio. He moved with his family to Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated ...

, businessman and Iowa state legislator *

Matt Macri Matthew Michael Macri (born May 29, 1982) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Minnesota Twins in 2008. Amateur career A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Macri graduated from Dowling Catholic High School in 2001 ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

third baseman * Mike Mahoney, MLB catcher *

Karen Maine Karen Maine (born June 15, 1985) is an American film director and screenwriter known for ''Obvious Child'' and '' Yes, God, Yes''. Career Maine co-wrote the 2014 film ''Obvious Child'' and the 2009 short film it's based on. Maine wrote and di ...

, director and screenwriter of ''

Yes, God, Yes ''Yes, God, Yes'' is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Karen Maine and starring Natalia Dyer. It is Maine's directorial debut, based on her 2017 short film of the same name also starring Dyer. The film premiered at the S ...

'' * Matt McCoy, Iowa State Senator *

Scott Pose Scott Vernon Pose (; born February 11, 1967) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He is an alumnus of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa and the Arkansas Razorbacks, University of Arkansas. Drafted by the C ...

, Major League Baseball player * Tyson Smith, NFL linebacker *

Fred L. Turner Frederick Leo Turner (January 6, 1933 – January 7, 2013) was an American restaurant industry executive, chair and CEO of McDonald's. He is credited with helping to massively expand McDonald's, introducing new meals and setting service stand ...

, CEO of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Ross Verba Ross Robert Verba (born October 31, 1973) is a former American professional football player. A 6'4", 305-lb. guard from the University of Iowa, Verba was a first-team All-Big Ten player in 1996. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 1st ...

, NFL lineman *

Shawn Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of two percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot in which he is designated #6. Crahan he ...

, Slipknot percussion

References

External links

*
Iowa High School Athletic Association
{{Authority control 1884 establishments in Iowa Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines Catholic secondary schools in Iowa Private high schools in Iowa West Des Moines, Iowa Schools in Polk County, Iowa Iowa High School Athletic Association