WHAT'S GOING ON NOW:

OUTSTANDING RELIGIOUS HIGH SCHOOL

Where Progressive and Traditional Converge
With emphasis on theology and community service, the Loyola School charts its own path

On a stately corner of Park Avenue, the Loyola school sits in harmony with the church next door and the well-appointed apartment buildings across the street. The juxtaposition is an apt metaphor for the school, which derives its atmosphere from the mixture of the Jesuit educational tradition and the New York City independent school world.

Loyola was founded in 1900 as a Catholic alternative to tony prep schools like Collegiate and Dalton. The school meant to prepare young men for the big three universities: Harvard, Yale and Princeton. From its inception, Loyola drew strongly on the Jesuit educational tradition that had been in place for nearly half a millennium, while emulating the small class sizes and other features of its secular rivals.

“It’s the best of both traditions,” said Father Stephen Katsouros, the school’s president.

James F.X. Lyness, Jr., headmaster and Rev. Stephen Katsouros, S.J., president.

Reflecting a progressive approach to education, Loyola was the first Jesuit school in the country to admit both young men and women, and today remains the only co-educational Jesuit high school in the tri-state area. The student body is geographically and economically diverse, drawing from neighborhoods in all the boroughs and beyond.

Loyola teachers often hear from their students years later, and the alumni magazine is full of passionate responses from decades of graduates, many whom have gone on to top Catholic, Ivy League and liberal arts colleges.

Despite its cutting-edge qualities, Loyola also has firm roots in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition.

The school’s theology requirement spans all four years and covers world religious, ethics and various parts of the Hebrew and Christian traditions. Students frequently hop a few blocks over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to study its vast collection of religious painting and sculpture. Later on in their high school careers, student can take electives on philosophical topics like ethics and social justice, death and dying, and prayer and meditation.

A personal approach to religion is also emphasized on overnight school retreats — another characteristic of the Jesuit educational tradition. At these retreats, students reflect individually on their spirituality and their relationship with friends, family and the school community. A group of student leaders helps organize the retreats, a responsibility that’s a huge honor for the chosen few.

Community service is also a key part of the Loyola education, and part of the school’s mission is that students “become women and men for others.” The administration views service as more than just a graduation requirement, but a way for the school to come together. Students and teachers, for example, will go distribute sandwiches to homeless people on the Bowery and Lower East Side on a Saturday.

On service trips to Camden, N.J., students visit a supermarket and try to budget meals on the $12 a day that a Camden family of four on welfare and food stamps might have.

“It’s pretty grim,” Katsourus said. “It’s a real eye-opener, a really enlightening experience for our students.”

Many Loyola students dedicate their spring breaks to working in Appalachia on school-affiliated trips. And during senior year, a number of students opt for a lengthy service stint in Belize instead of the usual partying in the Bahamas.

With an overall teacher-student ratio of 1:8, Loyola’s level of interaction is quite intense. James F.X. Lyness, Jr., the school’s headmaster, was a math teacher at Loyola for more than two decades. Today he shepherds the students through a rigorous academic curriculum, including the usual roster of Advanced Placement classes and electives.

Small class sizes increase student accountability. “If you haven’t done the reading or homework, the jig is up—there’s nowhere to run,” Katsouros said.

A writing class works in Loyola's computer lab. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Loyolans are required to take public speaking and their skills are displayed for the entire school at student-run assemblies three days a week.

“It’s remarkable how comfortable our kids feel speaking,” Katsouros said. “A lot of kids would rather rub sand in their eyes than read poetry out loud or try to recruit others to basketball.”

Art and extracurricular activities are also emphasized. Student artwork plasters the school walls, including main office, and athletic trophies fill the cases in front of the school’s gym complex next door, a testament to the victories of Loyola’s 15 athletic teams.

Administrators work to make the college application process as smooth and uncompetitive as is possible—even for an independent New York City school.

“Students and parents are led through the college admissions process starting in 9th grade,” said Rose McSween, associate director of Loyola’s advancement office. “It’s an intense, helpful, collaborative process.”

Summer bus trips to visit schools also help students have a stress-free chance to get used to the idea of college—and figure out if they want big or small, urban or rural—without missing vital homework and weekend time.

Working through a math problem at the Loyola School. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

With slightly more than 200 students in grade 9 through 12 (that’s 50 per grade), it all adds up to a tightly knit community. By the time teens graduate, “Every student in the building is known by every adult who works in building,” Katsouros said. “It promotes relationships that last for a lifetime.”

— Sarah Seltzer