Monsignor Farrell High School

Monsignor Farrell High School is a Roman Catholic Archdiocesan high school located in the Oakwood section of Staten Island, New York, USA, on the island's East Shore. Admission is for boys only and the school is a part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

Founded in 1961, the school is named after Monsignor Joseph A. Farrell (April 29 1873-June 13, 1960), a long-time Roman Catholic clergyman and educator on Staten Island. His service to the island's Catholics spanned six decades, and he was best known for having been the pastor of St. Peter's Church in New Brighton since 1926, after having founded a boys' high school at that church ten years earlier.

In the first year, the school operated out of an annex of St. Sylvester's, a Catholic elementary school in the Island's Concord neighborhood, while its Oakwood campus was being built; the latter opened the following year. In its one-year sojourn at St. Sylvester's, the new school had only 113 students and five teachers; today there are approximately 1,200 students and 80 teachers, most of whom are laymen. The Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic monastic order, that founded the school with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York now only have two teachers there.

Monsignor Farrell High School maintains high standards, both academically and athletically; each year over 1,000 boys apply for admission to the incoming freshman class, of which only 350 are accepted. The school's well known sports teams — particularly its American football team who is lead by coach Ben Sarullo and plays in New York City's top division, the CHSFL AAA. The team compiled five CHSFL City Championships. As well as two Metro Bowl titles in 1979, and 1986. In some years the hockey team has even been ranked among the best in New York State, resulting in its having played opponents from as far away as Canada. Farrell is a member of the CHSAA.

In the early 1970s, the school became the focus of a scandal when it was revealed that a controversial sex education course — titled Contemporary Moral Questions — was being taught there; many parents of attending students voiced objections to the course's content, leading to its chief instructor, a priest, being removed from the school and reassigned to a nearby church.

Graduates of Monsignor Farrell have gone on to prominence in many fields — most notably local politics, within whose ranks include three members of the New York City Council (Andrew Lanza, Michael McMahon and James Oddo), a Richmond County district attorney (Daniel Donovan), a Family Court judge (Ralph Porzio), a member of the New York State Assembly (Michael Cusick) and even a member of the United States House of Representatives (Vito Fossella). Actor John Lavelle and professional golfer Bill Britton also graduated from the school, as did Charles Margiotta, a New York City firefighter who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks, along with seven other members of the department, in addition to twelve other alumni.

The principal since 2002-2003 academic year is the Msgr. John Paddack, and its assistant principals are Larry Musanti and Sr. Judine Cassidy with thirty-three and thirteen years of service respectively.