Jesuit High School (New Orleans)
Jesuit High School is a private, non-profit, Catholic college-preparatory high school (grades 8–12) for boys run by the USA Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus in Mid-City New Orleans, Louisiana. The school was founded in 1847 by the Jesuits as the College of the Immaculate Conception before taking on its current name in 1911, and it serves students of all religious faiths.
Jesuit High School
Latin: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
English: For the Greater Glory of God
1847 (as the College of the Immaculate Conception)
1911 (as Jesuit High School)
Jean Baptiste Maisonabe, SJ
Rev. Fr. John Brown, SJ
Brian W. North '83
- Helen M. Swan, B.S.
(Director of Student Affairs) - Ardley R. Hanemann III, ’85
(Director of Admissions) - David A. Moreau, B.A.
(Director of Athletics) - Mary U. Favalora, B.A.
(Director of Guidance) - Daniel C. Wagner
(Dir. of Information Technology) - Mike R. Prados '83
(Director of Alumni Service Corps) - Matthew P. Orillion, M.A. ’98
(Director of Student Activities) - Jeff Miraflor, SJ
(Director of Campus Ministry) - Scott J. Delatte ’06
(Director of Community Service) - Christian Bautista '00
(Dir. of Institutional Advancememt) - Brittany Donnes
(Director of Communications) - Michael R. Prados, M.Ed. ’83
(Director of Alumni)
Peter S. Kernion, M.Ed. ’90
Fr. Stephen Kramer, SJ
Fr. Jonathan Polce, SJ
119
Male
1,293 (2020–2021) [1]
25
12:1
7
7 acres (28,000 m2)
Urban
Blue and White
Men of Faith, Men for Others
Varsity Sports
Baseball Basketball Football
Soccer
Bowling
Cross Country GolfLacrosse Rugby Swimming Tennis
Track & Field Wrestling
Jayson the Blue Jay
Blue Jays
Calliope (literary magazine)
The Blue Jay
The Annual
$300 (2023–24)
$11,250 (2023–24)
235 (2022)
Mission and philosophy[edit]
The mission of Jesuit High School as a Catholic, college preparatory school is to develop in its students the competence, conscience, and compassion that will enable them to be men of faith and men for others.[3]
The Jesuit approach to education is based on nearly five hundred years of tradition beginning with St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus (“the Jesuits”) in 1540.[4] It begins with a focus on students and their potential, a principle the Jesuits call cura personalis. The school encourages personal excellence in all aspects of life—intellectual, emotional, moral, and physical. This principle is often called magis, meaning "more" or "greater," referring to the rigor of intellectual exchange and the varied challenges the school poses to its students through its curriculum.[5]
History[edit]
Founding and early history[edit]
The College of the Immaculate Conception was founded in 1847 and opened in 1849. It was both a secondary school and college, and both were located in the Faubourg Ste. Marie of New Orleans (now the New Orleans Central Business District), a block upriver from the French Quarter, at the corner of Baronne and Common Streets. The delayed start of the school's first year came as a result of the spread of Yellow Fever,[6] and the school's founder, Jean Baptiste Maisonabe, S.J., himself fell victim to the disease. Maisonabe was succeeded by John Cambiaso, S.J., who largely responsible for the design of the Church of the Immaculate Conception.[7][8]
The Church of the Immaculate Conception remains on the original campus and plays an active role in the Jesuit High School community today.
Move to Carrollton & Banks[edit]
In 1911, the high school and college divisions were split, and the college division relocated to St. Charles Avenue, eventually becoming Loyola University New Orleans. The high school remained on Baronne Street until 1926, when it was moved to its current location at 4133 Banks Street in Mid-City.
Since 1926, several additions have been made to the campus. In 1953 a wing was added along Palmyra Street; the addition included an auditorium, the Chapel of the North American Martyrs, a cafeteria, a library, several classrooms, and a band room. A recreation center and gym was constructed on Banks Street across from the school in 1957 and provided facilities for the athletic teams and the physical education program.
A resource center, featuring the school's library, additional classrooms, and science facilities was built in 1974. The area was upgraded again in 2001, when the Student Commons was constructed under the resource center with further renovations to the school following after Hurricane Katrina.
In 2012, John Ryan Stadium, a baseball and multi-purpose sports stadium, was constructed at 100 Blue Jay Way in Metairie, LA, marking the school's expansion into Jefferson Parish.
Recent leadership[edit]
In recent times, Fr. Raymond Fitzgerald, S.J., (Class of 1976) served as school president and was succeeded by 1966 graduate Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J. In May 2015 it was announced that Fr. Chris Fronk, S.J., on active duty as a U.S. Navy chaplain, would serve as the school's 30th president, and he assumed office in November 2016.[9] In January 2020, Fr. Chris Fronk, S.J., stepped down from school president. Fr. John Brown, S.J., who is currently the school's president, took over the role in 2020,[10] becoming the school's 31st president.
The principal is Peter Kernion (Class of 1990).
Mascot, colors, and logo[edit]
The mascot is a blue jay posed with his fists raised, designed by cartoonist Walt Kelly of Pogo fame. A contest among students was held to name the mascot in 1954,[11] and the name "Jayson" won.
The school's colors are blue and white to honor the Virgin Mary. Student athletes wore a white sweater with a blue letter "J" on it and were referred to as the "Blue Js"—hence the eventual selection of the mascot. As with many Jesuit schools, the school's motto is Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ("For the Greater Glory of God").
Hurricane Katrina[edit]
When the flooding following Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Jesuit High School was inundated, five feet (1.5 m) of water ruining the ground floor. When the school announced that it was closed indefinitely, many students enrolled in schools in cities where they had evacuated. The largest concentration of students attended a satellite school at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston; at one point, approximately 420 displaced students attended classes at night with their own teachers and classmates.[31] In mid-October, Jesuit opened another satellite school at St. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, where about 500 students attended until Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, Jesuit's students and faculty returned to their own campus, becoming the first flooded school in New Orleans to reopen – albeit with an unusable first floor. The school held its annual Thanksgiving Drive for the poor living in the surrounding neighborhoods. On 23 January 2006, 1285 of the 1450 students returned to attend Jesuit for the second semester. After the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, Jesuit hosted students from Colegio San Ignacio in Puerto Rico.[32]
History of sexual abuse[edit]
There have been several instances of child sexual abuse at the school.[33] The Jesuit order confirmed that at least fourteen clergy assigned to Jesuit High at some point in their careers were credibly accused of sexual abuse. The accused clergy were active from the 1950s through the 1990s, and almost all are currently deceased.[34] Several other priests and employees at the school have also been confirmed by the administration as abusers, and the school has allegedly paid large settlements to the families.[35]