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 and serves students of all religious faiths. Selective admission to Jesuit is based on previous academic performance, recommendations of teachers, principals, and/or church parish pastors, promise of future development, and the desire of the student to profit from the moral, spiritual, academic, and physical programs offered by the school. For  students who qualify for admission, but whose families cannot afford the tuition, Jesuit annually awards over $1 million of financial aid per year based solely on financial need. Jesuit does not award academic or athletic scholarships. Tuition is near the lowest among private schools in the Greater New Orleans area, $9,150 in 2017–2018. More than 99% of the school's graduates go on to colleges and universities. Jesuit ranks among the top private schools in the nation in number of National Merit semifinalists. Of the 286 seniors in the Class of 2018, 35 of them were named  National Merit Semifinalists and eight were named in the National Hispanic Recognition Program. The school's service program is an integral part of the student experience with all Jesuit juniors completing a mandatory 100 hours of service. In 1967, Jesuit became the first high school in the country to have a Marine Corps Junior ROTC program. For several years this program was mandatory for all students. Mission and Philosophy. 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. 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. 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. History. Founding and Early  History. 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, 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. The Church of the Immaculate Conception remains on the original campus and plays an active role in the Jesuit High School community today. The Move to Carrollton & Banks. 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. 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. 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, becoming the school's 31st president. The principal is Peter Kernion (Class of 1990). Mascot, Colors, and Logo. 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, 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"). Athletics. Since 1933, Jesuit has won numerous state championships in football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, and soccer. The 1946 athletic year yielded undefeated state champions in baseball, basketball, track and field, and football—all coached by G. Gernon Brown. It has been said that Jesuit had "All the Tricks in '46." In the 2004–2005 school year, Jesuit won state championships in baseball, cross country, soccer, tennis, wrestling , rugby, and swimming, and went to the state playoffs in football with an undefeated regular season. In 2012 Jesuit built Ryan stadium, a state of the art facility accommodating football, baseball, and soccer on a field covered entirely with artificial turf. In 2015, Jesuit was the first prep school in the States to get a germ-zapping robot, gift of an alumnus. Cross Country. In 2005, Jesuit became the first 5A school in Louisiana history to win three state championships in a row in the sport of cross country. In 2006 they continued with an unprecedented 4th cross country state  championship. Swimming. Jesuit swimming holds the LHSAA record for most consecutive state championships in any sport, with 18 straight. As of November 20, 2010, Jesuit Swimming has captured 36 state championships. The streak was broken in 2005 when the team, still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina, was only able to field 12 swimmers, yet managed to take second place, only a few points out of first. In 2006, however, the team was able to recapture the state championship. Wrestling. In wrestling within the state of Louisiana, Jesuit's rival Holy Cross was the perennial state champs under Br. Melchior  Polowy in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Then in 1969 Jesuit hired Surachai "Sam" Harnsongkram as its new wrestling coach. In 1972 the Jesuit High School Blue Jays won the first of 18 State Championships under Coach Sam, including 11 in a row from 1988–1998. Prior to that 1972 win, Jesuit's only state championship was in 1951. And since that string-of-11 (ending in 1998) Jesuit has won 4 more state wrestling championships, with the last being in 2009. High School wrestling in Louisiana has become much more visible starting in the 1990s, resulting in other schools developing programs  to challenge the "leaders". From 1999-til-2015, Jesuit has won 4 more state championships, and has been runner-up in the other years. Baseball. From 2007–09 Jesuit made it to the state tournament three times, and twice to the American Legion playoffs winning one championship. In August 2012, Jesuit's baseball team won the American Legion World Series. Jesuit's American Legion teams also won the national championship in 1946 and 1960. Jesuit won the 2021 Louisiana State High School Athletic Association Division I state championship. Football. In football, Jesuit High School vs. Holy Cross High School is the oldest  continuous high school rivalry in Louisiana and one of the oldest continuous high school football rivalries in the United States. The first game was played in 1922 (Jesuit won by 52–0) and the two teams have played every year since (twice in 1963: once in regular season and another time for the state crown which Holy Cross won) Blue Jays vs. Tigers. The Jesuit Blue Jays Football team went to the State Championship for the 2014 season and played against the John Curtis Patriots and for the first time since 1978 against St. Augustine. Jesuit defeated John Curtis 17–14 to  win the Division 1 state championship. Running back Charles Jackson was voted the game's most valuable player. Basketball. In February 1965, Jesuit's all-white basketball team played a secret game against St. Augustine, the city's all-male, all-black high school. The Purple Knights won the game, which was the basis for the 1999 motion picture Passing Glory. That same year, Jesuit won the 1965 Louisiana High School Athletic Association state championship in Class AAA (at the time the state's highest classification) while St. Augustine won the championship of the Louisiana Interscholastic and Literary Organization, the  sanctioning body for the state's black schools. In the fall of 1967, St. Augustine joined the LHSAA and became a rival for the Blue Jays in the New Orleans Catholic League through the 2010–11 school year, when the Purple Knights were reclassified Class 4A by the LHSAA. Soccer. In the 1998–1999 season, 2006–2007 season, 2008–2009 season, and also the 2009–2010 season, Jesuit fielded one of the best soccer teams in the nation, winning the Louisiana state title and in all four cases ending the season undefeated. This record gave the Jesuit team a #3 (1998–99), a #2 (2006–2007), a  #1 (2008–2009), and a #3 (2009–2010) rank in the nation. The 2008–2009 team is considered the best high school soccer team in LHSAA history. In the three seasons from 2009–2011, the soccer team had a 94-game unbeaten streak, which is the fourth longest unbeaten streak in the country. Rugby. In the 2007–2008 season, the rugby team won the State Championship for the sixth consecutive year with an undefeated season, only allowing 12 points while scoring over 300. Because of a conflict with the senior prom, the team was forced to play in the more difficult multi-school division at  the Southern Regionals in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The team swept regionals and moved on to become 8th in the country in the multi-school division at the USA Rugby Boys High School National Championship. In 2017, the Blue Jays reclaimed the State Championship, winning the title for the first time since 2011, with an overtime victory over the Bayou Hurricanes, 25–22. In 2018, the Blue Jays remained the State Champions with a victory over the Brother Martin Crusaders, 22–12. Lacrosse. In 2014, Jesuit New Orleans won the 2014 Allstate Sugar Bowl Lacrosse Classic, with 14 schools competing from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi , and Alabama. In 2021, the Lacrosse team won the Louisiana High School Lacrosse state championship after completing an undefeated season. Golf. Jesuit won the state championship twice in the late 1990s. Hurricane Katrina. 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. 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. History of sexual abuse. There have been several instances of child sexual abuse at the school. The Jesuit order confirmed that at least fourteen clergy assigned to Jesuit High were credibly accused of sexual abuse. The accused clergy were active until the 1990s, and almost all are currently deceased. 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. Notable alumni. In chronological order: Jesuit