Loyola High School is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

for

boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. It was established in 1865 and is part of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. It is the oldest continuously run educational institution in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

History

Loyola High School of Los Angeles is the region's oldest continuing educational institution, pre-dating the Los Angeles public school and the University of California systems. The school began in the downtown plaza Lugo adobe in 1865 as Saint Vincent's College at the behest of Archdiocese of Los Angeles Bishop Thaddeus Amat. After relocating to Hill Street in 1869 and to Grand Avenue in 1889, the Vincentian fathers ceded control of the school to the Society of Jesus in 1911, and it relocated to Avenue 52 in Highland Park as the prep school Los Angeles College. In 1917, the school moved to its current location on Venice Boulevard after the copper magnate and Irish philanthropist Thomas P. Higgins helped secure land for the school. The college was renamed Loyola College the following year in honor of

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

, the founder of the

. Until 1929, the campus housed the college, the law school, and the high school. At that time, the Jesuits purchased additional property to house the college and acquired separate facilities for

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

just west of downtown Los Angeles. The college, now

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

, was moved to the area now known as Westchester in

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...

. The school's recent campus development occurred in the 1980s: the gym, track, swimming pool, and additional classroom space were built after the administration secured significant donations. A $30 million renovation with donations from the William Hannon Foundation, the Ardolf Family, and others have provided for a new science building, counseling, and student centers, additional classrooms, and central plaza, which were operational as of June 2007, when construction of a new Xavier Center was begun. Hannon Theatre on campus, with its large stage, serves the students along with actors from throughout Southern California.

Profile

Admissions

The primary admissions entry point for Loyola High School is 9th grade, with varying transfer opportunities offered in 10th and 11th grades. Transfer is not allowed in the senior year, except for rare situations. Admission is based on standardized test scores, recommendations from the candidate's teachers, principal, and minister, involvement in extracurricular activities, a personal statement, and grades. Loyola draws its students from throughout the greater Los Angeles area, from Pacific Palisades to East L.A., from

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

to San Pedro, from the South Bay as well as the

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, San Gabriel,

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populo ...

, and Hidden Valleys. Nearly 50% of the student body is composed of individuals of African-American, Latino, and Asian heritage, which serves to enhance the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the school. Approximately 800 students apply for 310 slots in the first-year class each year.

Curriculum

Four years each of

social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

and

English studies English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a dis ...

courses are required, along with three years of foreign language study and of

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and one year of

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

. Eight semesters of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

are also a central part of the curriculum, covering

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

, systematic theology, Catholic social thought, moral theology, and one senior elective.

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

courses are offered in 25 subject areas with a historical "pass" rate of almost 80%,Loyola High School Advanced Placement
, Loyola School News. Retrieved 2010-10-06. and students are encouraged to take various electives outside the required courses. Loyola also offers more than 19

Honors course An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their coursework at school. United States In the United States, honors students may refer to: # Students recognized for their academic achievem ...

s. Ninety-six percent of Loyola graduates attend a four-year college. In 2014, Loyola sent 23 students to USC with an 18% acceptance rate: the Loyola contingent was the most from any school. In 2017, among 153 private high schools in the Los Angeles metro area, Niche ranked Loyola 13th in college readiness, and among 52 Catholic high schools 2nd overall with an A+ grade. Also, according to Niche, Loyola is the best all boy school.

Service

Since the 1970s, Loyola students have served the community for over one million hours. As part of its commitment to educating ''men for and with others,'' Loyola students participate in four major service-oriented projects during their high school careers. The first-year students serve as tutors on the Loyola campus for the award-winning High School Placement Test Prep Projects for 8th (October - January) and 7th graders (February - April), as well as assist with the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

. The second and third service projects include at least 25 hours of service during each sophomore and junior year. The Senior Service Project is a minimum 85-hour immersion commitment to a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

service organization in January of senior year. Inner city grade schools, special education schools, hospitals, hospices, shelters, and soup kitchens are preferred sites for this service experience. Now in its 29th year, the Senior Service Project was featured in "Making A Difference" as part of the NBC National News hosted by

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

on March 11, 2010. The film clip is accessible on the Loyola and NBC websites. Loyola students' community service has been regularly featured on the local news programs of the ABC affiliate, Channel 7, including Kool Kids and a fundraising car wash conducted on behalf of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the gang member reformation program founded by

Greg Boyle Gregory Joseph Boyle (born May 19, 1954) is an American Catholic priest of the Jesuit order. He is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program, and former pastor of Dolores Mis ...

, a Loyola graduate and former faculty member. Loyola sponsors one of the leading Community Service fairs in metro Los Angeles during the third week of September each year. Over 100 local agencies, centers, schools, and organizations send representatives to enroll Loyola students as volunteers. This event supports the school's service and justice education programs and seeks to support better-informed choices for student service. Several times over the year, the Cubs Urban Plunge in Los Angeles is offered to students and faculty as a way for them to better experience the community from the position of the poor, disenfranchised, and marginalized. This is one of Loyola's distinguishing programs. Still the only high school in Los Angeles, public or private, to offer such a program, through this three- to four-day program, students serve in several shelters and centers on

Skid row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, and

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

. This program continued through the summer of 2010, offering four urban plunges. An overview of the Cubs Urban Plunge program may be found in the July edition of the "Beverly Press." In June 2007, Loyola began an out-of-area, hands-on service program with a two-week service immersion in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The 2008 program took Loyola students to Appalachia, focused on Wheeling and Charleston, West Virginia. In July 2008, Loyola launched its foreign service immersion in Puebla and Cholula, Mexico. In June 2009, Loyola launched a five-week academic exchange and service immersion with Colegio Del Salvador, the Jesuit high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 2009 summer service immersion program included student, faculty, and staff service teams in New Orleans/Slidell, Louisiana, in mid-June and another student, staff, alums, and parent service team to Lima and Cusco, Peru, in late July and early August. The 2010 service immersion program included one that is agriculturally based in the Salinas Valley in Northern California and an extended urban immersion in Los Angeles, both conducted in mid-June. In 2010, Loyola again conducted a six-week Argentina Intercambio program based in Buenos Aires, which expanded to include nine days in metropolitan Montevideo, Uruguay. The Intercambio is undertaken with the Jesuit colleges in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santa Fe, Montevideo, Uruguay. An overview of the summer service immersion program may be found in the July 31, 2010, edition of '' The Tidings'', the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Overall, each Loyola student completes a minimum of 150 hours of direct service by graduation, with many of them matriculating with between 250 – 300 hours. Non-credit service activities include the annual Community Service Fair conducted each September, the Community Service Leadership Team, the annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, the Peace and Justice Coalition, the annual School of the America's Watch and Ignatian Teach-In conducted just before Thanksgiving, Catholic Lobby Day in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, an annual social justice speakers series, and ongoing collection of food, clothing, books, and toys for distribution to the needy served by some of the school's 1,000 placement partners. Service and justice are two significant factors in making the most of the "Big Seven" awards for graduating seniors each June. Outstanding service leadership is recognized at the annual student awards ceremony and the Annual Community Service Awards Banquet held each May. Loyola is an active member of the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN), an association of 70 US Jesuit high schools, colleges, and universities engaged in social advocacy and justice education for students and adults. National and regional topical workshops included Loyola's hosting 500 students and adults from the US and Mexico for the 2008 ISN conference on comprehensive immigration reform. In recent years, Loyola delegations have participated in national conferences on racism and poverty in New Orleans (2007) and comprehensive immigration advocacy in Washington, DC (2009). The 2010 ISN program occurred in Washington, DC, and focused on immigration, the environment, health care, and education. Loyola's parents, alums, faculty, and staff involvement in various service projects with students is a distinguishing characteristic of the Loyola program. Parents and alums are heavily involved in staffing the Saturday tutoring programs for 8th graders and 7th graders each Fall and Spring. In December 2008 and again in October 2009, the Loyola faculty, staff, and administration spent the better part of a retreat day serving in the same agencies and schools as their students. Loyola's service program has received numerous awards from the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the California State Senate, and several various agency and civic groups for the million-plus hours of student service contributed to the children, men, and women of Los Angeles.

Athletics

Loyola High School has a strong history of athletic success, including national championships in football and volleyball. Loyola has won at least one California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) title for ten years running and won their tenth CIF Commissioner's Cup in 2022. In the 2002-2003 academic year, Loyola set the California state record for most section championships (5) won in a single school year: cross-country, basketball, volleyball, track, and golf. The Cubs matched their still-standing state record in the 2015-2016 school year, winning section titles in golf, lacrosse, swimming, volleyball, and soccer. *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

: CIF Champs - 1954, 2007 Mission League Champs - 1996, 2005, 2013, 2014 *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

: CIF AAAA/Div I-A Champs - 1953, 2002, 2003, 2011 * Cross Country: Mission League Champs - 1994 through 2018; CIF Champs - 1984, 1985, 2002, 2004, 2007; CIF State Champs - 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015; Nike Cross Nationals - 2007 (8th in U.S.), 2008 (15th in U.S.) *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

: CIF AAAA/Div I Champs - 1962, 1963, 1975, 1990, 2003, 2005; National Champs - 1975 (National Sports News Service) *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

: CIF Div Champs - 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 *

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

: CIF Certification - 2006; Mission League Champs - 2007, 2009; Division II champions - 2011, Division I champions - 2016, 2017, 2018; CIF Southern Section Champions - 2021 *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

: CIF Division I/Division II Champs - 1998, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2016 State Champs (Nationally ranked 5th, ranked 1st in the state) *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

: CIF Champs - 1984, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2011 (State Champs, 4th in U.S.), 2016 2019 *

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

: CIF Champs Div 1-A - 1980, 2-A - 1982, 1984, 1986 *

Track & Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

: CIF Champs - 1984, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; National Champs - 2011 (Nike Track Nationals) *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

: CIF Div I Champs - 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2023 (Nationally ranked 2nd), 2024 (Nationally ranked 1st); National Champs - 2009 (ESPN RISE) CIF Div 1 STATE Champs - 2009, 2010 & 2012, 2022,2024 *

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

: Mission League Champs - 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017; CIF Div I Champs - 2021 Top All-Boys Athletic Program in the nation as ranked by ESPN RISE: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Loyola's football team competes in the highly competitive Serra League. The team achieved an exceptionally successful 2011-2012 campaign by notching eight wins. During the 2015-16 season, the Cubs ended the regular season 8-2, including a perfect 7-0 on the road. This record led them to their first CIF Division 1 playoff appearance since 2011. They eventually lost in the second round to nationally ranked St. John Bosco, finishing the season with a 9-3 record and ranked in California's Top 15 football programs. Loyola football most recently won 4-straight Angelus League Championships to earn promotion to the Mission League.

Notable alumni

References

External links

* {{Portalbar, Schools, California, Education Pico-Union, Los Angeles High schools in Los Angeles Roman Catholic secondary schools in Los Angeles County, California Boys' schools in California Catholic preparatory schools in California Catholic secondary schools in California Jesuit high schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1865 1865 establishments in California Society of Jesus in California