Xavierian High School, an all-boys Catholic institution for 57 years in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, N.Y., says it will begin enrolling girls in 2016-17.
Robert B. Alesi, president of Xavierian, says school leaders have been studying the potential of a co-educational high school program for several years, with input from school stakeholders, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, and outside experts in Catholic education.
Xavierian’s middle school for grades 6 to 8 has enrolled girls for two decades, officials said.
“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,” Alesi says. “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 school building has received nearly $1 million in improvements: an upgrade of the audio and visual systems in the auditorium, technological infrastructure improvements to support a one-to-one computer learning environment, and a renovated lab with equipment to support STEM subjects.
Further improvements planned for the campus include renovation of all bathrooms and conversion of some to female use. In addition, renovations will create separate locker room space for male and female athletes. Other upgrades include construction of a new middle school wing, a new visual arts wing, a new music rehearsal space, a new school chapel, the renovation of existing science labs, the creation of two new STEM labs for engineering and biomedicine, and the creation of a common lounge and study area for students and teachers.
Including middle school, Xavierian now enrolls about 1,100 students.