Xavier High School (New York City)

Xavier High School is an independent university-preparatory high school for boys run by the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1847, as the College of St. Francis Xavier (also known as St. Francis Xavier College[4]) by John Larkin.

Xavier High School
Location
30 West 16th St

New York City
,
New York
10011

United States
Coordinates40°44′17″N 73°59′42″W
Information
TypePrivate
Motto"Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" (Latin)
For the Greater Glory of God
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic (Jesuit)
Patron saint(s)St. Francis Xavier
Established1847 (1847)
FounderJohn Larkin
Sister schoolNotre Dame School
OversightSociety of Jesus
CEEB code334145
PresidentJack Raslowsky
ChairmanDaniel Denihan
Dean
Director
HeadmasterMichael LiVigni
Vice-PresidentPaul Kelleher
(VP for Finance)
Faculty75.3 FTEs[1]
GradesNinth grade-twelfth grade
GenderBoys
Enrollment1,090[1] (2015-16)
Student to teacher ratio14.5:1[1]
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)  Maroon and   blue
Slogan"Men for Others"[2]
Song"Sons of Xavier"
Athletics18 sports
Athletics conferenceCHSAA New York section
NicknameKnightslo
RivalsRegis High School
Fordham Preparatory School
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
PublicationLexicon (literary journal)
NewspaperThe Xavier Review
Endowment$68 million
AffiliationsJSEA, NCEA, NYSAIS
Websitewww.xavierhs.org

Xavier High School in 2019

History

The school was founded in 1847 by John Larkin, a professor at St. John's College in Rosehill Manor, then in Westchester County, now a part of the Borough of the Bronx, and which later became Fordham University. It taught boys from the age of eight to twenty-one. The Regents of the University of the State of New York chartered Xavier in 1861.[5]

A military training unit began at the school in 1886 under the direction of the National Guard, and membership became mandatory in 1892. Five years later, collegiate and secondary studies were separated into different departments, and the college-level department was closed in 1912. The student regiment became a Junior ROTC unit in 1935, and the school was declared a military institute in 1968, offering four years of military science and training which would be recognized upon enrollment in any branch of the United States military. Participation in military studies was declared optional in 1971.[5]

The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1927.[6]

Demographics

As of the 2015-16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,090 students and 75.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.5:1. The school's student body was 69.8% White, 4.9% Black, 12.4% Hispanic, 3.9% Asian, and 9.1% two or more races.[1]

Academics

Xavier provides students with courses that challenge its students, but always with the understanding that the faculty, staff, and administration of the school is there for them through it all.

The school offers courses under the categories of religion, English, history, modern and classical languages, mathematics, science, fine arts, computer science and technology, military science, health and physical education, and a guidance department program.

Xavier’s courses prepare students to embrace the five goals of the Profile of a Graduate of a Jesuit School at Graduation (the “Grad at Grad"). These goals—being open to growth, intellectually competent, religious, loving, and committed to doing justice—are the foundation of Xavier’s curriculum and prepare students to live a life of competence, conscience, and compassion.

Athletics

Xavier, a Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) member, provides its students the opportunity to pursue a wide variety of sports: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross-country, football, fencing, golf, hockey, indoor/outdoor track and field, rugby, soccer, lacrosse, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. Other extracurricular activities include boxing club, choir, speech and debate, chess team, anime, film, science fiction, and skiing /snowboard clubs, school newspaper, The Review, drama productions, UNICEF Club, and the Blue Night Jazz Band. The Blue Night Band won best trombone section at the 2010 Villanova University Big Band Festival.

Xavier's current mascot is a knight, and all of its athletic teams are referred to as the Knights. However, for many years, the teams were called the Cadets, a reflection of Xavier's military program, while a terrier was used as a mascot. After a variety of replacements, including the 1980s Bruins, the nickname of the Knights was decided upon in the early 1990s and has been official since.

Football

The Xavier Football program began in the late 19th century. It has a continued rivalry with the Bronx's Fordham Preparatory School. The two schools compete in an annual "Turkey Bowl", the oldest high school football rivalry in New York City.[7] Their very first game against one another took place in the late 19th century when the game was called off due to darkness, ending in a tie. Many of these football matches were played at Manhattan's famed Polo Grounds, until its demolition.

Rugby

Rugby is a popular sport at Xavier. Rugby has varsity status, and fields four teams with over 125 players.[8] Xavier has fielded one of the top rugby teams in the United States since the club's founding in 1976.[9] The team achieved an undefeated season in 2007, winning the Tier B National Championship Tournament. The Xavier Rugby Team also won National Championship Tournaments in 1985 and 1993 and has won the East Coast/Northeast US Championship Tournament every year from 2000 to 2009. The team won their 4th National Championship on May 22, 2010. They defeated Gonzaga 32-10 to win the Boy's National High School Championship.

Track

The Freshman Track and Field team won the indoor and outdoor 2009 CHSAA Intersectional Championships, the first time in team history.[10] In 2010, the team defended their outdoor victory as sophomores. The Track and Field team competed in the Nationals track meet in Greensboro, North Carolina and finished fifth in both the 4 by 100 and 4 by 200 meter relay, earning Emerging Elite Metals.[11] In June 2012, Edward Wagner, a Xavier track and field athlete became the school's first to earn All-America honors during the outdoor season with a 4th place overall finish in the 400 meter hurdles at the National Championship.[12] The team has had much recent success in both cross country and on the track. The cross country team has finished 4th at CHSAA Intersectional Championships in 2011, 5th in 2012, 3rd in 2013, 2nd in 2014, 2nd in 2015 and 1st in 2016, the teams first cross country title in almost a century. The team also finished 2nd at the New York Federation cross country meet by 2 points in 2016. The team has carried the success with a CHSAA Intersectional Championship victory in 2015 and most recently in 2017, the 4X800 meter relay placed 3rd at the National track meet, capturing All American with a 7:50.84

Swimming

The Swim Team first moved up to the CHSAA's 'A' Division in the early 1990s. It won the school's first City Championship in 1996 and followed that up by winning the 'A' Division title in 1997. Also in 1996, Xavier won the first 'All-City' Swimming Championship by beating New York City Public School swimming champion Stuyvesant High School. Like many schools in Manhattan, Xavier does not have many athletic resources on-site. As a result, the Xavier Swim Team has used various pools around the city, such as St. Francis College in Brooklyn, the Lower East Side Boys and Girls Club, and Humanities High School. For many years, Xavier had residence at Borough of Manhattan Community College, using their facilities for both practices and dual meets.

Other sports

In 1859 the College of St. Francis Xavier and St. John's College (now Fordham University) played the first collegiate level baseball game, featuring the new nine-man team style of play. Fordham won the game 33-11.[13]

Xavier High School's JV Soccer team won the CHSAA Intersectional Championship in 2008 and 2009.[14]

Buildings
Additional building

In 2016, the school acquired space inside a 25 story building, 35 West 15th Street, to house Fernandez-Duminuco Hall, occupying 45,000 square feet (4,200 m2) of space in the basement and six floors. The other floors house condominiums, and both the school campus and the condominiums have separate entrances.[15]

The building has allowed for the expansion of the arts at Xavier. The expansion includes a new band room, music practice rooms, small ensemble room, recording studio, theater, and STEAM classroom, which houses an expanded computer science and technology department, and a student activities space.

Notable people
Alumni
Faculty
  • Leo Paquin (1910-1993), 40-year faculty member who was athletic director, football coach, and English and Latin teacher. Played end for Fordham University as part of the 1936 line known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite".[34]
  • Mike Petri, Rugby coach, Physics and Biology teacher and graduate of the class of 2002.
  • Mike Tolkin, Varsity Rugby coach, English teacher and graduate of the class of 1985. Left in 2012, after being asked to become the head coach of the USA Rugby team.
  • Francis P. Duffy, Rev. Duffy served as chaplain for the 69th Infantry Regiment (known as the "Fighting 69th") teacher of French in 1893,[35] "Duffy Square – the northern half of New York City's Times Square between 45th and 47th Streets – is named in his honor."].[36]

Xavier High School has been used in several television shows and movies, including:

See also

References
  1. School data for Xavier High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 20, 2017.
  2. "Mission Statement" on the Xaxier High School website
  3. name="MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools">Xavier High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed November 29, 2017.
  4. "ST.FRANCIS XAVIER'S COLLEGE.; Twelfth Commencement The New College Building The Graduating Class Prosperity of the College". The New York Times. 1862-07-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  5. "History". Xavier High School.
  6. Xavier High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed November 29, 2017.
  7. Robinson, Joshua (November 24, 2010). "A Turkey Day of Prep Pigskin". The Wall Street Journal.
  8. "USA's Mike Petri says tier two rugby needs more games against elite teams", ESPN, October 12, 2015.
  9. Xavier Rugby athletics/Rugby/HistoryPage.htm Archived 2008-01-01 at the Wayback Machine, Xavier High School. Accessed November 30, 2007.
  10. "2008-2009". departments. xavierhs.org. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  11. "2010 track". Archived from the original on 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
  12. "Xavier Track and Field". departments.xavierhs.org. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  13. The New York Times, April 6, 2009, p D7
  14. "This site is not configured". www.xavierhs.org. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  15. Kennedy, Mike (2017-02-27). "Manhattan high school addition shares building with condominiums". American School & University. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  16. Solomon, George. "About Dave Anderson", Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism. Accessed November 29, 2017. "Dave Anderson, 85, was born in Troy, N.Y., moving with his family as a boy to Brooklyn, N.Y. and graduating from Xavier High School in Manhattan in 1947."
  17. Staff. "John Caemmerer, Chairman Of State Senate Transit Panel", The New York Times, February 8, 1982. Accessed November 29, 2017. "Mr. Caemmerer, who was born in Brooklyn, grew up in suburban East Williston. It was there, the burly Mr. Caemmerer once said, that he came to appreciate mass-transit needs as a student commuting to Xavier High School in Manhattan."
  18. Waggoner, Walter H. "John T. Clancy, 82, Ex-Borough Chief", The New York Times, May 17, 1985. Accessed November 29, 2017. "Mr. Clancy was born in Long Island City, the son of Patrick J. Clancy, a grocer, and Mary Clancy, both natives of Limerick, Ireland. He attended public schools in Long Island City and St. Francis Xavier High School in Manhattan and then graduated from Fordham University Law School."
  19. Colonel Donald Cook Square Archived 2008-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed November 27, 2007.
  20. Anderson, Dale (2017-06-23). "The Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, 81, 'visionary' Canisius president". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  21. "Hon. John R. Countryman '50". www.xavierhsalumni.org. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  22. "
  23. via Associated Press. "Joseph F. Finnegan, Ex-Director Of U.S. Mediation Service, Dies; Lawyer Held Federal Post From 1955 to 1961, Then Headed State Board", The New York Times, February 13, 1964. Accessed July 9, 2009.
  24. "Biography.com article on Bobby Flay"; video footage at 06:30-06:38 shows Flay at school track event wearing team shirt. Accessed October 16, 2013.
  25. Cornelius Augustine McGlennon, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed October 2, 2007.
  26. Goldaper, Sam. "Frank McGuire, 80, Basketball Coach, Dies", The New York Times, October 12, 1994. Accessed November 29, 2017. "Francis Joseph McGuire, the 13th child of a New York City policeman, was born on Nov. 8, 1913, in Greenwich Village. He attended St. Francis Xavier High School, where he later taught history and coached for 11 seasons."
  27. Robert J. Reiley, AIA Architect Roster Questionnaire, 1946, 1953 Archived 2011-08-13 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 11 January 2011)
  28. Al Roker Biography, The Biography Channel. Accessed November 18, 2007. "After graduating from Xavier High School in Manhattan, Roker studied communicatons [sic] at State University of New York at Oswego, where he got his first shot at weathercasting."
  29. Santos, Fernanda."Who's That Guy? Without Robes, Grand Marshal Is Mystery", The New York Times, October 11, 2005. Accessed November 3, 2007. "Justice Scalia, 69, had marched at the parade once before, five decades ago as a student at Xavier High School in Chelsea."
  30. "
  31. O'Neill, Patrick. "Catholic pacifist pro-life activist dies" Archived October 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, National Catholic Reporter, November 9, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2008.
  32. "Obituary: Robert F. Trehy". Centre Daily Times. November 24, 2009.
  33. "James J. Walker". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  34. Thomas Jr., Robert McG. "Leo Paquin, 83, One of Fordham's Blocks of Granite", The New York Times, December 3, 1993. Accessed November 29, 2017. "Instead, he accepted a position at Xavier High School in Manhattan, where he spent more than 40 years as football coach, as athletic director, and as a Latin and English teacher who would annually startle his awed freshman classes by telling them that his parents and professors had been far less impressed by his football glory than by the fact that he made the dean's list for four years."
  35. https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/father-duffy-square/history
  36. " La Gorce, Tammy
  37. The Peacemaker (1997), retrieved 2017-08-07
  38. New Kids Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  39. "Premium Rush (2012)". IMDb. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  40. "The Winning Season (2009)". IMDb. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
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