Xaverian High School is an independent Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college preparatory program and grades 6-8 are middle school.
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History
The school was founded in 1957 by the Xaverian Brothers. The school is a member of the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA). Xaverian is governed by a president and board of trustees. It is operated independently of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. As of 2021–22 the school had a total student population of 1,625. 1,157 students identified as White, 227 as Hispanic, 101 as Asian, 65 as Black, 4 as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 71 as two or more races.
On March 5, 2015, the board of trustees made a decision to incorporate co-education to the high school, beginning in 2016. The school's first boys and girls class was admitted for the 2016–2017 school year. Xaverian High School also has a sister school located in Bruges, Belgium called the Sint-Franciscus-Xaveriusinstituut and maintains a yearly cultural exchange program with the school allowing exchange students to come to New York City in the fall and Xaverian students to go to Belgium in the winter.
Beyond academics, business, and athletics, Xaverian maintains a strong tradition of public service, with a notable proportion of its alumni pursuing careers within the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY).
September 11th Memorial
In the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Xaverian lost 23 alumni—which, alongside Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island (which also lost 23 alumni), represents the highest casualty toll suffered by any secondary school in the New York metropolitan area. Among the victims from Xaverian were four firefighters from the New York City Fire Department who were killed during rescue operations.
In 2002, Xaverian dedicated a permanent 9/11 Alumni Memorial on its campus. The memorial consists of an 8-foot-tall, 7.5-foot-wide polished black granite featuring an eternal flame at its base. The central panel depicts the Twin Towers behind a crucifix, mounted above a section of structural steel recovered from the North Tower and donated by the New York City Office of Emergency Management. The left panel is engraved with the names of the 23 alumni, while the right panel bears the inscription, "All Lost Some, Some Lost All." At the start of the academic year each September, Xaverian holds an annual 9/11 Memorial Mass in its Performing Arts Center to honor the alumni victims and all those killed in the attacks, gathering family members, school leadership, and the broader community.
Notable alumni
Tom Abinanti, politician, lawyer, member of the New York State Assembly, 1964
Oday Aboushi, NFL player
Brian Alvey, internet entrepreneur, 1987
Rich Aurilia, professional MLB baseball player, 1989
Michael Badalucco, Emmy-winning actor, 1972
Scott Baio, actor, 1978
Pedro Beato, baseball player
Justin Brannan, New York City Councilmember for the New York City's 43rd City Council district in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Jason Calacanis, internet entrepreneur (CEO and co-founder of Weblogs, Inc., CEO of Mahalo), 1988
John Chell, Chief of Department for the New York City Police Department
Bill Corbett, writer and performer on Mystery Science Theater 3000
Pete Davidson, actor, comedian, and cast member of Saturday Night Live, 2011
Charles L. English, United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovenia
Levance Fields, college basketball player, 2005
Charles Robert Hadlock, applied mathematician, 1964
Pedro Hernández, major league baseball player