Saint Ignatius is a Jesuit College Preparatory highschool. Jesuits are a Roman Catholic order of priests; in fact Jesuit means Jesus. Saint Ignatius highschool (also known as SI) is in San Francisco. Their motto is “to be a person for others”. SI was founded in 1855 by Rev. Anthony Maraschi. SI is most known for their Lacrosse team. It is ranked 2nd for the West Coast. SI has 66 teams across about 15 sports. About ⅔ of the student body participates in sports. I personally want to apply to SI because of the school spirit. It looks like it has a fun and energetic atmosphere that I would like to be a part of. In fact they have so many fans during sporting events that they named their section of the stands the “Red Sea''.
De La Salle is a Roman Cath0lic High School in Concord. De La Salle is an all boys school but is partnered with Carondelet. For the first two years at De La Salle you only have classes with other boys at De La Salle. Then for the last two years you have classes with boys from De La Salle and girls from Carondelet. Those classes can take place on either of the two campuses. De La Salle is about 55 years old and was founded by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. De La Salle is most commonly known for their 151 game winning streak in football and 12-straight championships that was featured in a movie called “When The Game Stands Tall”. 21 athletes that went to De La Salle now play professionally.
St. Mary’s is a small local high school in Albany. It has many different options and philosophies. They have an SAT prep program that allows students to take the SAT pretest multiple times. Students can retake tests if they fit qualifications and have been turning in satisfactory work in school. Along with having honors classes, St. Mary’s offers a wide variety of sports with varsity, JV, and freshman teams for 18 different sports. 99% of St. Mary’s students attend a 4 year college after graduating. St. Mary’s mission embodies the tradition and heritage of the De La Salle Christian Brothers and their founder, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, to ensure a quality education for all students. They have a large focus on community service, a catholic identity, and growth in their students. In school, students will focus on thinking critically and using problem solving skills.
Bishop O’dowd is a well-known local highschool in Oakland near the Oakland Zoo. Bishop is definentally a choice for one of the high schools I will be applying to. O’dowd opened in 1951. It has a total of 16 different sports and 57 different sports teams. It even has more than 50 different clubs. Bishop O’dowd also provides honors classes in English 1, English 2, Spanish 3, French 3, algebra 2, trigonometry 2, Pre-Calculus, and chemistry. There are 25 advanced and honors classes in total! They have 2 gym’s, a living lab, a CES, A “Dragon Bar”, a theater, and a library! It also includes free tutoring, and a guidance counselor! Approximately 80-85% of the students that graduate Corpus Christi go to O’dowd.
Other local East Bay high school options are: Moreau Catholic (Hayward), Carondolet (Concord), Holy Names (Oakland), and St Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda). Each school has different programs and resources to offer that we encourage all students and our community to consider when reviewing these school options.