Bishop Lynch High School

Infobox_School2
name = Bishop Lynch High School


motto = "VERITAS"
established = 1963
type = Diocesan, Dominican, Catholic, Co-educational
grades = 9-12
head_name = President
head = Edward Leyden
city = Dallas
state = Texas
country = USA
students = 1,100+ students
faculty = 153
athletics = 19 sports
school_colors = Black and White
mascot = Friar

Bishop Lynch High School is a co-educational Catholic high school (grades 9-12) founded by the Dominican Order in east Dallas, Texas (USA). It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas. It opened in 1963 with 365 students and now has over 1,000 students. In keeping with its Dominican tradition, the school mascot is a Friar and the colors are black and white.

The school motto is "Veritas" which means "truth" in Latin.

It was designated a Blue Ribbon School by the Texas Department of Education in 1991 and 1998.

History

* In 1963 Bishop Lynch High School was founded in honor of Bishop Joseph Patrick Lynch.
* Originally, the school was co-institutional, with the main building divided down the middle of its square floor plan into a boys' half and a girls' half. Therefore, the male bathrooms are on one half of the main building and the women's room on the other. The school is now co-educational.

Campus

The Bishop Lynch campus was built with three main hallways: Ferguson Hall, Science Hall, and Inadale hall. Later, The newest Heritage Hall was built to be extra and branch from Ferguson. The courtyard houses a greenhouse, a Shakespeare garden, and a memorial to Bishop Lynch students who have died while attending.

Also notable is the Golf Garden. This space is maintained by the Golf Team as a popular destination for classes who seek fresh air, seniors who eat outside, and all students during late start days and after school. It frequently showcases student sculpture on its lawn.

The Atrium is where many pieces of hanging artwork are displayed, as well as where students congregate before and after classes. Off the Atrium is the St. Catherine's Chapel. Students may go there either for confession or an abbreviated Mass in the mornings.

The gym, located adjacent to the Cafeteria, is fairly modern. It contains Bishop Lynch's more than 60 victory banners collected over its 40 year history. It has facilities for boys, girls, and teams.

The VPA (Visual Performing Arts) center houses art studio classrooms as well as a newly renovated dance space. Several classrooms, including those for health and some language classes, are also located in the building. Behind the VPA is the Band Hall.

There are four different sports fields at BL. The first is the softball field located at the end of the school facing Heritage Hall. It is commonly used as a practice field by the band, colorguard, and soccer team during the summer. The second is the baseball field located behind the football stadium and to the left of the football practice field. The stadium is where the soccer, football, and track teams play, and where the band, colorguard, and brigade perform.

Academics & the Arts

Bishop Lynch was designated a Blue Ribbon School by the Texas Department of Education in 1991 and 1998.

The school offers over 30 Dual-Enrollment and Advanced Placement Course opportunities. Dual Enrollment classes allow college credit to be earned in the high school classroom in association with Eastfield College.

The school runs on an academic block schedule with A days and B days. Each day consists of four 90 minute classes which meet every other day, with eight classes in all. This scheduling structure allows for more intensive, comprehensive, and concentrated classes. The students also enjoy the additional homework time, since there's no such thing as "assigned today, due tomorrow."

The TAPPS Academic team of 2006-2007, composed of volunteer student competitors from specialties such as Computer Science and Mathematics to Persuasive Speaking and Literary Criticism. As with the past two consecutive years, Bishop Lynch brought home the team State Title [ [http://tapps.net/academics_art_music/results/index.htm Results of TAPPS Academic, Art state meets] ] with individual state champions in Ready Writing, Literary Criticism, Science, Physics, and Mathematics.

The school serves as a fine arts center of the Dallas Catholic secondary schools. Bishop Lynch has symphonic, jazz, and marching bands; eight award-winning choirs; two dance teams; Brigade(Varsity); Silver Cadettes(JV); and an extensive visual arts program, all of which participate in TPSMEA competitions yearly. The school is typically well represented in all-region and all-state band and choir competitions. In addition, the spring musical of Bishop Lynch draws a significant portion of the student body as participants.

The annual academic, artistic, and athletic achievements of TAPPS member schools are charted in a "school-of-the-year" contest. The results are compiled and the school with the most points is recognized as the overall champion [ [http://tapps.net/school_results/index.htm TAPPS overall school of the year results] ] . Bishop Lynch has won the distinction in the following school years: 1995-1996, 1997-1998, 1999-2000 and every school year since [ [http://www.bishoplynch.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=20 Bishop Lynch press release on winning TAPPS all-around trophy] ] .

Athletics

Bishop Lynch is a member of TAPPS and participates in the 6A classification, the largest in the league.

In its history the school's football team has won one TCIL (1988) and five TAPPS (1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003) state championships [ [http://www.bishoplynch.org/sports/football/ Bishop Lynch football] ] . Their principal rivals are Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Bishop Dunne Catholic School and Nolan Catholic High School. After a 17 year hiatus, Jesuit and Bishop Lynch renewed their rivalry on the football field in 2004. Currently, Bishop Lynch trails the "new" series 0-4.

The Lady Friar basketball team has won 24 state titles, including 19 of the past 20 and a streak of 12 straight which ended in 2000 [ [http://www.bishoplynch.org/sports/ladyfriarsbasketball/Coaching%20Staff.htm Bishop Lynch Lady Friars basketball] ] . In 2008, Coach Andy Zihlman was named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association high school Coach of the Year.

The wrestling program has won the state championship in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. In 2005 and 2008, the school also won the Prep State championship, a contest between TAPPS and SPC schools [ [http://www.bishoplynch.org/sports/wrestling/ Bishop Lynch wrestling] ] [ [http://tapps.net/athletics/records_and_past_champions/pdfs/Records/WrestlingResults2003ToPresent.pdf Past TAPPS wrestling champions] ] . The Friars wrestling team also placed second at the Prep National wrestling tournament in 2005 and 2006; the school placed 5th in 2007, and 2nd in 2008. [ [http://natprepwrestling.com/Preps/Brackets/2007_National_PrepsTeamScore.html 2007 Prep National Wrestling Tournament, final team scores] ] .

The boys track team, winning three state titles, is led by throwers Chase Gaddy, Cahill Hooker, and Travis Nault and sprinter Richard Stevens. Chase Gaddy is the TAPPS 6-A 2008 State Champion in the mens shot put and Richard is the two time 100 TAPPS 6A state champion.

= State Championships [ [http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/schoolextra.htm?schoolId=19&propertyId=dfw&page=history Dallas Morning News archive on past Bishop Lynch state championships] ] =

* Baseball: 2002
* Basketball (boys): 2002
* Basketball (girls): 1976, 1977, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
* Cross Country (girls): 2003, 2004
* Football: 1988, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003
* Golf (boys): 1997
* Golf (girls): 1993, 2008
* Soccer (boys): 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004
* Soccer (girls): 1989, 1990
* Softball: 2007
* Track (boys): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
* Volleyball: 2004
* Wrestling: 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008
* Powerlifting: 1998
* Swimming: 1999

Notable Alumni

* Gene R. Nichol, '69, President of the College of William and Mary, formerly the dean of the University of North Carolina School of Law and the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School.
* Jim McIngvale, '69, aka Mattress_mac, founder of Gallery Furniture, owner of the Westside Tennis Club in Houston, and the lead sponsor of the GalleryFurniture.com Bowl.Michael Duca, '70, Bishop of Shreveport
* Ryan Moats, '02, Running Back for Philadelphia Eagles
* Richard (Ritchie) Martin, '85, won a Grammy Award during ceremonies on Sunday, February 11, 2007. This is a project [ [http://www.archeophone.com/news/grammy.php Lost Sounds Wins Best Historical Album] ] that Mr. Martin began working on about ten years ago, researching and collecting old wax cylinders. He would remaster them and record them on cd.

Notes and References

External links

* [http://www.bishoplynch.org/ Official Site]