Jesuit Academics

Jesuit emphasizes academic excellence and intellectual challenge. The interaction of students and faculty introduces each student to the various fields of human knowledge, invites him to a mastery of particular skills, teaches him how to learn for himself, and encourages him to think critically. Thus, the program of studies looks to develop in its students “perfect eloquence,” having something worthwhile to say and being able to express it effectively and persuasively.

Jesuit recognizes the importance of educating the whole person, and thus every aspect of the school seeks the fullest possible development of every dimension of its students. Such a liberal education frees the student to develop fully the human potential God has given him. Jesuit’s education seeks to inspire a joy in learning and a thirst for greater and deeper knowledge.

Jesuit’s education program flows from a tradition of schools that stretches to the work of St. Ignatius Loyola and the first Jesuits in the 1540s. This tradition seeks to form students on the classic model of the Greeks – in its Christian version: balanced, serene, and constant. This heritage demands a structured and sequential program of studies that calls for an active role of the student in learning.

The Jesuit educational tradition centers its curriculum around the person rather than the material. Therefore, a guiding principle is personal care of the individual, whereby teachers have personal knowledge of, care for, and close rapport with their students.

Both academic education and religious formation in Jesuit schools draw their vision from St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. This vision sees our human goal as the praise, reverence, and service of God and seeks to free us for the proper use of all other created good as means to this end. Furthermore, in its program of retreats and spiritual formation, Jesuit takes the Exercises as a privileged way of better knowing, loving, and following Christ. Inspired by the vision of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the school assists its students to appreciate the richness of God’s creation, to wrestle with the basic questions of human existence, to listen for God’s personal call, and to respond with a generosity beyond the ordinary and commonplace.