Monsignor Donovan High School
Address
711 Hooper Avenue Toms River, New Jersey, (Ocean County), 08753 United States
Coordinates	39°57′40″N 74°11′19″W / 39.96111°N 74.18861°W / 39.96111; -74.18861Coordinates: 39°57′40″N 74°11′19″W / 39.96111°N 74.18861°W / 39.96111; -74.18861
Information
Type	Private, Coeducational
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic
Established	1962
School district	Diocese of Trenton
Director	Rev. John Bambrick
Principal	Edward Gere
Vice principal	Kathleen D'Andrea
Asst. Principal	Eileen McCullion
Faculty	approx. 64
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	approx. 1,000 (2008)
Student:teacher ratio	15.4:1
Color(s)	Blue and White
Athletics conference	Shore Conference
Team name	Griffins
Accreditation(s)	Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Dean of Discipline	Jason Asch
Student Activities Director	Donna Milana
Athletic Director	Dennis Toddings
Website	www.mondonhs.com

Monsignor Donovan High School is the only Roman Catholic High School in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, and operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton. Located in the coastal community of Toms River Township, the school originally opened in 1962 as St. Joseph High, but was renamed after its founder, Msgr. Lawrence Donovan in 1983. Enrollment usually hovers near 1,000 students, with an equal distribution of boys and girls.

The school mascot is the griffin. In the 1960s, the school (then St. Joseph high schools) sponsored a contest to name the mascot. Finalists were chosen by the faculty from the submissions, and then the students voted on the finalists. The griffin was the clear favorite.

Contents 1 Block Scheduling and Flex 2 Dress code 3 Athletics 4 Notable alumni 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Block Scheduling and Flex

Prior to the 1998-1999 year, the school operated under a traditional eight-period system. The following year, a block scheduling system was implemented. The school then changed to a two-semester school year, similar to the traditional college format. Each semester, a student takes four classes.

Each class is either 75 or 80 minutes long, depending on whether the class takes place before or after lunch. The lunch period, commonly called "flex," is fifty minutes. At first, all students were served at once. The cafeteria became too crowded, so the school implemented a lunch schedule. Seniors have first lunch everyday, regardless. Juniors, sophomores, and freshmen lunch times are rotated throughout the week for first, second, and last lunch.

[edit] Dress code

Students are required to wear uniforms. Girls may wear navy knee socks or tights, navy plaid pleated skirt or kilts, or khaki pants. They may also wear white dress shirts or blue golf shirts. Sweaters are optional. The boys wear khaki pants, belt, black dress shoes, dress shirts with a tie, or blue or white golf shirts. Sweaters are optional. Also, if a boys hair is longer then his collar, it must be pulled back into a ponytail. In winter, the students are allowed to wear outerwears such as a coat or a jacket at the outside of the school, but the student should keep the outerwears in their lockers when they are in school. The boys and girls should put their school uniform shirts underneath the pants or skirts. The school usually provides a casual dressed down day once a month to students to wear casual clothes not the school uniforms. The students donate about three dollars the day to wear the casual clothes. The money contributes to an organization for helping differently in each day when the school announces the dressed down day. The faculties do donation as well.

[edit] Athletics

The Monsignor Donovan High School Griffins compete in the Shore Conference, an athletic conference made up of private and public high schools centered at the Northern Jersey Shore.^[2] All schools in this conference are located within Monmouth County and Ocean County. The league operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).

The athletic teams compete in the following sports: football, soccer, baseball, hockey, basketball, swimming, gymnastics, cheerleading, softball, lacrosse, tennis, golf, wrestling, track and field, volleyball, sailing, bowling and cross country running .

The Monsignor Donovan Sailing Team has won the NJ State High School Sailing Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2007, they have also won the CT State High School Sailing Championship in 2005 and 2008. Over the past six years, the M.D.H.S. Sailing Team has qualified for the Inter-Scholastic Sailing National Championship four times.

The Monsignor Donovan boy's bowling team succeeded in the winter of 2006-2007, finishing with a 34-11 record and taking home the titles of divisional champions, Shore Conference tournament champions and South Jersey Group II state sectional champions all in a single season.^[3]

The Monsignor Donovan girl's swimming team won the Ocean County Championship for the first time in school history during the 2007-08 season, a first for a non-public school, then repeated in 2008-2009.

Outdoor track won a state championship in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable alumni

• John Cudia '88, Broadway Actor^{[citation needed]}
• Rebecca Kane '07 - High School All-American swimmer^[4]
• Scott Palguta '01, professional soccer player.^[5]
• Mike Straka '88 - Fox News journalist.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Monsignor Donovan High School
• Monsignor Donovan High School, National Center for Education Statistics

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