Xavier College Preparatory High School (California)


Xavier College Preparatory High School is a private, Roman Catholic, Jesuit high school in Palm Desert, California, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino. Xavier College Prep is the first and only Catholic high school east of the Riverside/San Bernardino corridor and west of the Arizona border. It is also the first lay-built, Jesuit-endorsed high school of its kind and is associated with the six other Jesuit high schools in the state of California.

Academics

Xavier College Prep was established in 2006 with 48 freshman students. In 2009–2010 the first senior class had 60 graduates, all of whom went on to college. Currently, Xavier College Prep has over 525 students in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, and a student to teacher ratio of 12:1. Tuition is $12,900, with 45% of students receiving need-based aid. The student profile for the school is 55% female, 45% male, and 48% minority. Xavier admits students on the basis of their ability to succeed in a college preparatory environment. The school does not rank its students. The criteria for the school's admission is that all students must submit an application, references, transcripts, and sit for the High School Placement Test. Incoming students must also have an interview with the admissions committee.

Sports

The sports teams are known as the Saints, and compete in the Desert Empire League. Average enrollment in DVL high schools exceeds 2,000 with some exceeding 3,000. This makes Xavier the smallest, with about 600 students, but because private schools can recruit and are not restricted by boundaries, it can "select" athletes throughout the area, and manages to field competitive teams in every sport.
The Saints' Cross Country boys' team won the 2014 State Championship and the girls finished 10th in their respective Division 5 races at the 2010 CIF Cross Country State Finals in Fresno, California.
In 2011, the Xavier College Prep girls' cross country team were the first sport team from the school to earn a Desert Valley League title.