The House System

By Joe Stair and John Pokorny

SEATTLE - “Four Houses, One Brotherhood”.

Although many people may overlook the theme of brotherhood at O’Dea High School, the house system truly shows the bond it brings out between students. It promotes competition, service, academic success, support, and the best in all O’Dea students. 

“The role of the house system at O’Dea is to give each student their own sense of belonging to the school culture,” said House Director Rory McNulty. 

 It is built around four major categories: house games, service, GPA, and spirit. These categories help students build connections, school spirit, and a sense of belonging. The four houses Limerick, Kilkenny, Dublin, and Waterford compete throughout the year for the Irish Cup, a trophy awarded at the end of the school year. 

Each category highlights a different aspect of O’Dea students. House games play a major role, with houses competing in traditional sports such as flag football, basketball, and volleyball, as well as in more creative competitions like ping pong, esports, pumpkin carving, and gingerbread house contests.

Senior Chace Pearson mentioned, “House sports is awesome. There’s no other school that offers what we do. It brings out competition between your fellow classmates while still having fun. While playing in the flag football championship, I caught the game-winning touchdown pass, and it was one of the best feelings I’ve had while at O’Dea High School.” 

Service is another key part of O’Dea’s culture. Houses earn points based on how many students go above and beyond the annual requirement of 25 service hours per year. The service aspect is one of the pillars of O’Dea High School being selfless and doing something greater than yourself.  

“When giving house points, what that means is not only are you hopefully gaining something for yourself, but you’re also gaining something for your house. You’re contributing to something bigger than yourself. It’s going back to your house, back to O’Dea, and then with service, back to the community,” McNulty said. 

Freshman Carsten Iben, who has so far completed a whopping 500 service hours, had a few words to say about the experience.  

“It’s really cool that we motivate kids like myself to do service. It’s bigger than just the house system. You get to help people, make connections, and learn great skills and habits that you can use in life,” Iben said. 

Academic achievement also matters, as houses receive points based on their average GPA. This gives students motivation to stay on top of their academics, which creates good work habits, discipline and can affect future opportunities such as college. 

Finally, spirit-worth double points emphasizes support within the student body. Whether it’s attending sports games, dances, concerts, theater productions, or other events, students check in their participation through an app called 5-Star, earning points for their house. 

Together, these four categories determine the winner of the Irish Cup, awarded to the house that demonstrates excellence across academics, service, competition, and school spirit. 

Within the house system, there are mentor groups. There are 20 mentor groups, five per house. A mentor group is composed of students from all grade levels who stay together throughout their four years at O’Dea. Students are exposed to seven different grade levels (Freshman year there are 3 grades above them, and senior year there are 3 below) while growing relationships with a mentor group teacher, counselor, and house dean. Mentor groups meet every day for four years, unlike other classes. 

The purpose of mentor groups is to build connections within the house. The time spent is not focused on schoolwork, but on building bonds and competing together. Mentor groups allow a unique experience to learn more about students and break the grade-level barrier.  

“Mentor group is where you see the brotherhood the most. This is because that is their small community where you can become connected through relationships with the people in it,” McNulty said. 

In conclusion, the house system at O’Dea High School greatly benefits students. It creates strong bonds while truly acclimating them into the brotherhood that O’Dea has to offer. It also pushes students to be the best version of themselves, whether that be through academics, service, competitiveness, or building relationships with others.