Bishop O'Dowd High School

Bishop O'Dowd High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school in Oakland, California, administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and named after 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 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 1,250 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 and Riordan high schools, O'Dowd was in the process of drawing up plans for a new Catholic high school in the East Bay 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.

In 2022, the school opened a new $40 million gymnasium featuring a basketball court, a new music room, and a weight room.

Athletics
In 2015, the men's basketball team won the CIF Open Division Championship and the women's team won the Division III CIF State Championship. The men's team was led by Ivan Rabb, the no. 8 player in the country. In 2015, O'Dowd's basketball team was ranked 13th nationally.

Programs and extracurricular activities

 * 21 AP courses
 * 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 in 1990–1991.

Alumni

 * The Matches, pop-punk band
 * Alijah Vera-Tucker, football player
 * Tarik Glenn, football player
 * Jevon Holland, football player
 * Jasmine Guillory, novelist
 * Maya Harris, lawyer & writer
 * Meena Harris, lawyer and author
 * Ivan Rabb, basketball player
 * Kevin King, football player
 * Brian Shaw, basketball player
 * Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, musician and filmmaker
 * Michael A. Goorjian, actor & filmmaker
 * Kirk Morrison, football linebacker & radio analyst
 * Brandon Ashley, basketball player
 * Tyson Ross, baseball player
 * Langston Walker, football player
 * Grady Livingston, college basketball player
 * Jeff Kobernus, baseball player
 * Dennis Montali, bankruptcy judge
 * Meghan Kalkstein, broadcast journalist
 * Sean Aaberg, comics artist
 * Burl Toler III, football player
 * Ryan Drese, baseball player
 * Eric Bjornson, football player
 * Alexi Pappas, runner, filmmaker, actor, & author
 * Luis Scott-Vargas, game designer and member of the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame
 * Johnnie Bryant, basketball coach
 * Austin Jones, football player