Dowling Catholic High School is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

West Des Moines, Iowa West Des Moines is a city in Iowa, United States. Most of the city is in Polk County, Iowa, Polk County, some of it is in Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren County, Iowa, Warren and Madison County, Iowa, Madi ...

, within the

Diocese of Des Moines The Diocese of Des Moines () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southwestern Iowa in the United States. It is a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque. ...

. As of the 2013–14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,431 students and 94.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 15.1:1. The school's enrollment was 81.2% White, 4.1% Black, 10.2% Hispanic, 4.4% Asian and 0.1% American Indian / Alaska Native.

History

It was created in 1972 by the merger of St. Joseph Academy for girls (established in 1884) and Dowling High School for boys (established in 1918 as the Des Moines College boarding school for boys).

Academics

During the 2003–04 school year, Dowling Catholic High School was recognized with the

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

Award of Excellence by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

, the highest award an American school can receive.

Tuition

Total tuition cost for 2018-2019 is $11,176 plus fees. Tuition for students belonging to a

Catholic Parish In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecc ...

is $7,986 plus fees. Tuition for international students is $12,076 plus fees.

Extracurricular activities

Baseball

The Maroons hold the record for most team home runs during a championship game with 5 in 2001.

Boys' basketball

Bobby Hansen Robert Louis Hansen II (born January 18, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A guard, he played nine seasons (1983–1992) in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hansen is currently a commentator for Iowa Hawkeyes ...

who later played at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

and nine years in the NBA, was on the 1979 state championship team.

Cross country

Girls

*2007 Girls' Heartland Regional Champions

Boys

Debate

Dowling is the home of the Dowling Catholic Paradigm, one of the largest debate tournaments held by a school. In 2015, Dowling Catholic won 2 state titles for Congressional Debate, 1 for Public Forum debate, and 1 for Lincoln Douglas Debate.

Football

Home games are played at the 9,500 seat

Valley Stadium A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or s ...

in West Des Moines, Williams Stadium, or at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. In 2019, they became the first school in Iowa history to win seven straight Class 4A state championships. Dowling made the playoffs 17 years in a row beginning in 1985 and ending in 2002 when Dowling missed the playoffs. The school won 36 consecutive games in the 1967 through 1971 graduating class seasons. Dowling won 64 consecutive Metro conference games, a streak lasting from 1968 to 1977. In addition to the 64 metro games Dowling also won 57 consecutive conference games lasting from 1993 to 2002. WDM, Valley is Dowling's primary rival since 1968 when the schools joined the Des Moines Metro Conference.

Swimming

The boys' swimming team won four championships, consecutively from 2001 to 2003. The girls' swim team won their first state title during the 2019 season.

Boys' tennis

Wrestling

*Dowling has won State Dual Wrestling Championships in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 *Dowling has won the State Traditional Wrestling Championship in 1975, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1990, and 1991 *Dowling has the state record for most consecutive dual wins with 136 set from January 1986 to January 1992

Notable alumni

Michael Annett Michael Wayne Annett (born June 23, 1986) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Racing career Early career Save for a fe ...

, professional

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver *

Jennie Baranczyk Jennie Lillis Baranczyk (born Jennie Marie Lillis; February 22, 1982) is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball, University of Oklahoma women's basketball team. Early life and educati ...

, head coach of women's basketball at University of Oklahoma *

Carter Baumler Below are select minor league players and the rosters of the minor league affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles: Players Justin Armbruester Justin David Armbruester (born October 21, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Balti ...

, MLB pitcher *

Chris Broussard Christopher Dana Broussard (born October 28, 1968) is an American sports analyst and commentator for Fox Sports 1 (FS1) and Fox Sports Radio. Best known for his coverage of the NBA, he is now a co-host on FS1's afternoon show '' First Things First ...

, sports journalist *

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...

(class of 2020), professional basketball player for

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

(WNBA); played college basketball 2020-2024

Shawn Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder, percussionist, and only original member remaining of the alternative metal band Slipknot (band), Sli ...

Slipknot The slip knot is a stopper knot which is easily undone by pulling the tail ( working end). The slip knot is related to the running knot, which will release when the standing end is pulled. Both knots are identical and are composed of a slipp ...

percussionist * Amara Darboh, former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

* Clare Duwelius, American basketball executive *

Jerry Groom Jerome Paul "Boomer" Groom (August 15, 1929 – February 29, 2008) was an American football player. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he graduated from Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines. He played college football for the Notr ...

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

offensive lineman *

Matt Haack Matthew Scott Haack (born July 25, 1994) is an American professional football punter. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils. He played his first four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Miami Dolphins, ...

punter *

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball player *

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Pa ...

, United States Senator (Iowa) *

Bob Harlan Robert Ernest Harlan (born September 9, 1936) is an American former football executive who served as the president of the Green Bay Packers for 19 years. Harlan also held the titles of chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the ...

, former president of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Teagan Kavan Teagan Kavan (born February 28, 2005) is an American college softball pitcher for Texas. High school career Kavan attended Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. She played travel softball for Iowa Premier Fastpitch, where she r ...

, American college softball pitcher * George Kinley, businessman and Iowa state legislator *

Matt Macri Matthew Michael Macri (born May 29, 1982) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Minnesota Twins in 2008. Amateur career A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Macri graduated from Dowling Catholic High School in 200 ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

third baseman * Mike Mahoney, MLB catcher *

Karen Maine Karen Maine (born June 15, 1985) is an American film director and screenwriter known for '' Obvious Child'' and '' Yes, God, Yes''. She graduated from Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. Career Maine co-wrote the 2014 film ''Obvious Child'' a ...

, director and screenwriter of ''

Yes, God, Yes ''Yes, God, Yes'' is a 2019 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Karen Maine and starring Natalia Dyer. It is Maine's directorial debut, based on her 2017 short film of the same name, also starring Dyer. ''Yes, God, ...

'' * Matt McCoy, Iowa State Senator *

Scott Pose Scott Vernon Pose (; born February 11, 1967) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He is an alumnus of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa and the University of Arkansas. Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in th ...

, Major League Baseball player *

Karissa Schweizer Karissa Schweizer ( ; born May 4, 1996) is an American middle- and long-distance runner, Olympian and World Record holder in the women's 4x1500 meters relay. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters events fi ...

, professional distance runner * Tyson Smith, NFL linebacker * Fred L. Turner, former CEO of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Ross Verba Ross Robert Verba (born October 31, 1973) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). A 6'4", 305-lb. guard from the University of Iowa, Verba was a first-team All-Big Ten player in 1996. He was se ...

, NFL lineman

References

External links

*
Iowa High School Athletic Association
{{Authority control 1884 establishments in Iowa Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines Catholic secondary schools in Iowa Private high schools in Iowa West Des Moines, Iowa Schools in Polk County, Iowa Iowa High School Athletic Association Educational institutions established in 1884