Donovan Catholic High School

Donovan Catholic High School, located in Toms River, 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 as Monsignor Donovan High School after its founder, Msgr. Lawrence Donovan in 1983, before adopting its current name in 2014. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1977.As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 685 students and 61.5 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1.The school mascot is the Griffin. In the 1960s, the school sponsored a contest to name the mascot. Finalists were chosen by the faculty from the submissions, and then the students voted on the finalists.AcademicsDonovan Catholic has created an Enhanced Learning Community though the educational vehicle known as block scheduling. This model, implemented in the fall of 1998, includes two eighteen-week terms. Terms may be divided into quarters depending on curriculum needs. Students take four courses each term. Each course meets for approximately twice the standard instructional time than is offered under the traditional schedule. In order to graduate, students must complete four years of religious studies, have completed seventy hours of Christian Service, and have taken twenty credits of English, ten credits of United States History, five credits of World History, fifteen credits of Mathematics, fifteen credits of Science, ten credits of the same Foreign Language, three credits of Fine and Practical Arts, and ten credits of Physic and Health/Driver Education.