Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge, will become a co-educational school when it admits girls for the first time in September, 2016.

Xaverian’s president, Robert B. Alesi ’78, together with Brother Lawrence Harvey, C.F.X., chairman of the board of trustees, announced that the board voted unanimously to commence this latest phase of the school’s long-range strategic plan, which includes expanding co-education from its middle school program to the high school grade levels, as well as the continued progression of multi-phased renovation and expansion initiatives.

“Over the last five years, we have strengthened our admissions requirements, enhanced our academic offerings and expanded our curricular and extracurricular programs,” Alesi explained.

Alesi said that the board and school administration have been studying the potential of a co-ed high school program for several years, as part of its overall strategic vision. That study included input from parents, students, alumni and the Diocese of Brooklyn, as well as insights from outside experts in Catholic education, including the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame.

Alesi noted that Xaverian’s successful middle school program, Genesis, has been co-educational for two decades.
“We wish to provide young women, including our own middle school students, the same opportunities for a Xaverian High School education that our boys have,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring that future Xaverian students continue to meet the high expectations of academic excellence, leadership and dedication to Xaverian’s core values of service, justice and peace.

“By extending co-education from the middle school to the high school, Xaverian will continue to attract the highest achieving students, both boys and girls, who can succeed in our demanding programs. We are confident that by accepting talented young women to our high school we will not only strengthen our school, but we will also strengthen Catholic education within our community as well.”

The focus of Xaverian’s strategic plan is to build upon three essential areas: enhancing academic achievement, embracing the whole student and empowering the future. The early stages of the strategic plan have resulted in successful academic initiatives, such as the implementation of a 1:1 learning environment in which all students are issued iPads, the creation of IPAX, an internship program, a pre-professional honors program for students interested in the fields of medicine, business, law and the arts and most recently, the introduction of the Michael T. Strianese ’74 STEM Education Program for students who wish to pursue engineering or biomedical science.

Additionally, facility enhancements totaling nearly $1 million have already come to fruition, including the upgrading of the audio and visual systems in the auditorium, technological infrastructure improvements to support a 1:1 learning environment, and a renovated STEM lab with state-of-the-art technology equipment to support the STEM program.

Upcoming phases include the construction of a new middle school wing, a new visual arts wing, a new music rehearsal space, a new school chapel, the renovation of all existing science labs, the creation of two new STEM labs for engineering and biomedical sciences, and the creation of a common lounge and study area for students and teachers. The school will share the design plans in the spring.

Brother Lawrence reflected on the latest step forward in the school’s history saying, “Never before has there been a time when the need for quality, Catholic education is so critical to the Church’s ministry of evangelization.”