Bishop Michael F. Burbidge marked the 50th anniversary of all-girls Oakcrest School in Vienna with a Mass April 17, emphasizing the themes of remembrance, rejoicing and renewal.
“We remember those who had the vision 50 years ago for this school, a school that would be known for its excellence in education and faith formation and Catholic identity,” Bishop Burbidge said during his homily. “We rejoice thinking about all the blessings that the Lord has showered upon Oakcrest.’’
The school was founded in 1976 in Washington with an initial enrollment of 22 students and six teachers. It moved to McLean in 2000 and relocated to its current 25-acre campus in Vienna in 2017. A two-acre addition was purchased recently.
Meg White, vice president of the Oakcrest School Board, said she bought a house 10 minutes away in Herndon, knowing that the school was relocating to Vienna. White is the mother of a senior, an incoming sixth grader and two Oakcrest graduates.
Although the junior high and senior high school is Catholic, it is open to all faiths. The current sixth-grade student body comes from 21 different schools, with about 10% who were homeschooled, said Lori Duncan, the middle school director. About half previously attended Catholic schools. Duncan said a handful each year are children of diplomats serving in Washington from countries around the world.
Diem Tran, whose daughters Luciana and Vivian are a junior and sophomore at the school, respectively, believes the benefits of single-sex education have become more apparent as they have grown older. “The camaraderie and community are built without extra competition, you know, frivolous competition. I just see the girls thriving in their own.’’
Vivian said she thinks what sets her school apart is daily Mass and all-day access to the chapel. “The sacrament is always in the tabernacle, so you can always just talk to Jesus whenever you want,” she said.
The current school enrollment is about 310 students, with roughly 40 to 50 per grade housed in a modern three-story building with a central chapel at its axis. The campus is separated from the adjacent Dulles toll road by a large earthen berm.
During his homily at Mass, Bishop Burbidge called upon students to “rejoice in knowing that we are so blessed with fantastic Catholic educators and leadership in the classroom, and we thank them for their vocation and the yes that they give to that call every day.” And they should “rejoice in the love of your parents, who make sacrifices so that you can attend this beautiful school.”
The bishop told the students, faculty and parents who attended the Mass that they have been “strong and steadfast in faith’’ with a focus on “forming disciples, remaining excellent in education, Catholic education and faith formation.”
Oakcrest is the only all-girls Catholic high school in northern Virginia and one of only around 10 schools affiliated with Opus Dei in the United States. The school’s full-time chaplain, Father John Agnew, is a member of Opus Dei.
Opus Dei promotes the idea that work, regardless of the profession, can be a form of prayer and a way to encounter God.
Pope St. John Paul II established the personal prelature, or pastoral mission, for Opus Dei, and Pope Francis decreed in 2022 that the prelate, or leader, not be ordained as a bishop. Msgr. Thomas Bohlin, vicar for Opus Dei in the United States and Canada, said that Opus Dei is composed of 98% lay people and is not a religious order.
“You don’t have to do extraordinary things, but being a better husband, better wife, better mother, better father, better friend, better worker, that doing the ordinary things of the day well for Christ, for love of God, is a path to holiness,” said Msgr. Bohlin.
Bishop Burbidge referred to that approach to life in his homily. “I’m so happy to know how, here at Oakcrest, you treat each other with respect, respect for the dignity that belongs to every person as a child of God, you find ways to lift up each other rather than tearing each other down,” he said. “And I am also aware of projects throughout the year, service projects that help to benefit our brothers and sisters in most need.”
The bishop spent several hours touring the school and visiting individual classrooms as playful students laughed as they showed him a hidden card trick, and students in an English class took turns play-acting and reciting a scene from a book they were reading.
Tumulty is a freelancer in Centreville.
