75th Anniversary Trivia
- Bishop O'Dowd High School
- Aug 20, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 15
Celebrate our 75th anniversary with us! Each month on social media and in our O’Dowd In Brief newsletter, we will have a trivia related to our school’s history and community. The answers and information about the trivia will be shared here.
January 2026
How many high schools did Bishop O’Dowd establish while he was Superintendent of Schools?
A: 1
B: 2
C: 3
D: 4
After Fr. James T. O’Dowd’s ordination in 1932, he was assigned as the school master and assistant pastor of St. Lawrence O’Toole in Oakland. After only a year serving the school and parish community, Archbishop Mitty identified Fr. O’Dowd’s leadership skills and sent him to Catholic University in Washington, D.C., to earn a doctorate in education. In 1936, Fr. O’Dowd returned to the Bay Area and was named Assistant Superintendent of Schools and then Superintendent in 1941, and was given the title of auxiliary bishop. Beginning in 1943, Bishop O’Dowd led an unprecedented expansion of Catholic schools in the region, establishing nearly 24 schools, including four Catholic high schools: Archbishop Riordan High School, Marin Catholic, Mercy High School in San Francisco, and the school that now bears his name, Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland.
December
How many years has O’Dowd run a Christmas Adopt-A-Family Drive with St. Vincent’s Day Home?
A: 17
B: 38
C: 47
D: 51
For 47 years, O’Dowd has partnered with St. Vincent’s Day Home in West Oakland each Christmas season to support families in need. For many of those years, Campus Ministry has led the O’Dowd community in donating gifts to the children who attend St. Vincent’s Day Home. This year, O’Dowd supported 62 families with gifts and gift cards. Nearly two-thirds of our school’s history has been supporting St. Vincent’s Day Home, and we look forward to the many years of partnership in the coming years!
November
Which religious order was the last to administer O’Dowd?
A: The Basilian Fathers
B: The Oblates of Mary Immaculate
C: The Jesuits
The last religious order to administer O’Dowd was the Basilian Fathers. When the school opened in 1951, O’Dowd’s administration consisted of two diocesan priests and four nuns from the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan. O’Dowd was a diocesan school until 1966, when the Oblates of Mary Immaculate took over the administration until 1978. The Basilian Fathers administered O’Dowd from 1978 to 2005. Many alumni still remember Fr. Glass, Fr. Scheafer, Fr. Schwenzer, and Fr. Ranalleti, Fr. Delaney, Fr. McLeod, and Fr. Malo. At that time, O’Dowd returned to a diocesan school and Dr. Stephen Phelps served as the school’s first president, and Joe Salamack was appointed the first lay principal.
October
How many classes have won Spirit Week in their 9th grade year?
A: 0
B: 1
C: 2
D: 3
Since the first Spirit Week in 1967, the spirited rivalry among classes during the third week of October has made O’Dowd’s Spirit Weeks infamous. From traditions that have endured for decades, such as decorated hallways and class cheers, to evolving activities like bonfires in the 1970s, which turned into Night Rallies in the 1980s and continue today, the spirit of Dragon Pride has been evident throughout the years.
Throughout each Spirit Week, classes compete to earn points by participating in hallway decorations, rallies, lunchtime activities, and daily dress themes, all in an effort to claim the top prize: Spirit Week Champion. In the school’s history, only three classes have won Spirit Week as 9th graders - the classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020.
September
Who was the first O’Dowd alumnus to become a faculty member?
A: Jim Negri ’68
B: Sharon Correia ’83
C: Bob Grazzini ’55
In the 1955 yearbook, senior Bob Grazzini noted he hoped to become a teacher one day and in 1959 he returned to O’Dowd to teach Spanish, Social Studies, and Art, becoming the school’s first alumni faculty member. Additionally, he coached multiple sports teams and was the Athletic Director. For 44 years, Bob served the O’Dowd community, teaching and coaching generations of Dragons, including many who returned to O’Dowd on their own professional paths, until his passing in April 2003. Over the years, O’Dowd has welcomed back 234 alumni as faculty, staff, or coaches. Today, 26 alumni serve O’Dowd as teachers, campus safety, logistics, gardeners, and in the Office of the President. Bob’s legacy as “the first” lives on in them. The cafeteria, Bob Grazzini ’55 Hall, was named in his honor in 2004 after his passing.
August
What was the originally planned name for our school?
A: Bishop O’Dowd High School
B: East Oakland Catholic High School
C: Archbishop Mitty High School of the East Bay
The originally planned name for our school was East Oakland Catholic High School. In the late 1940s, the Archdiocese of San Francisco purchased land that was a former rock quarry to expand the diocesan education in the East Bay. The vision of the school, which was originally planned to be named East Oakland Catholic High School, was led by Bishop James T. O’Dowd. As the head of the archdiocese’s education department, Bishop O’Dowd worked to plan and oversee construction of “the school on the hill.” In 1950, Bishop O’Dowd tragically died after his stalled car was hit by a train. To honor his legacy, Archbishop Mitty, the archbishop of San Francisco, renamed the school Bishop O’Dowd High School.
