Education Ministries
Our Vision
The Jesuits have earned an international reputation for distinct excellence in education for more than 450 years. Jesuit education is grounded in Ignatius’ understanding of human life and destiny that emerged from his experience of God. Ignatius believed all things in creation were charged with the grandeur of God, therefore, the search for God must begin in the world. Ignatian Educator's Prayer
Our Measure of Success
Ignatius’ strong desire was to meet God in the world by providing the greatest service to those in greatest need. Jesuits never separated their educational enterprise from that desire. Jesuit education demands excellence in investigating and appropriating new ideas, excelling in written and oral skills, but academic excellence is not the ultimate end. Excellence in Jesuit education is measured against the virtuous habits one attains and the service one can offer to another for the greater glory of God.
Middle Schools
The New England Province sponsors Nativity Middle schools in Boston and Worcester. These schools provide quality, tuition-free education to students from low-income urban families. The first Nativity school opened in 1971 in New York City providing a rigorous and highly structured program to prepare students for success in high school and college. In seeking to educate the whole person, the Nativity program fosters academic, physical, social, spiritual and moral development.
Nativity School of Worcester
Nativity Preparatory School, Boston
The New England Province of Jesuits celebrates more than 30 years of commitment to Jesuit education & social justice at Nativity schools. To honor Jesuit and lay founding leaders, Very Rev. Myles N. Sheehan, SJ, Provincial, presented the esteemed Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (AMDG) Award to Nativity Preparatory School of Boston and Nativity School of Worcester at the 2012 Jesuit GALA, April 11th at Marriott Boston Copley. The AMDG Award honors those who selflessly give of themselves for the greater glory of God.
Secondary Schools
The province founded college preparatory schools in Boston, Massachusetts, Fairfield, Connecticut, Portland, Maine and two schools in Kingston, Jamaica. These institutions strive to educate students in the Jesuit ideals of competence, commitment and compassion.
Fairfield College Preparatory School
Cheverus High School
St. George’s College
Boston College High School
The Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA) is a Jesuit network that initiates programs and provides services that enable its member schools to sustain their Ignatian vision and educational excellence in the formation of young men and women.
The Cristo Rey Network is a national association of high schools that provides quality Catholic college preparatory education to young people from low-income families.
The Jesuit Conference is the national board of the nine U.S. provincials and the Conference president. The conference maintains offices in formation, education, refugee ministries, spiritual ministries and social and international ministries. In 2000 the Jesuit Conference published the document What Makes a Jesuit High School Jesuit?
Colleges and Universities
The New England province founded three highly respected higher educational institutions (a liberal arts college and two universities) and co-sponsors two pontifical theological centers that train men and women for future ministry in the church.
Boston College
Fairfield University
College of the Holy Cross
Boston College School of Theology and Ministry
Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) is a national service organization whose mission is to serve the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. The National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education publishes a quarterly periodical, Conversations.
Alpha Sigma Nu is the honor society of Jesuit universities founded to recognize scholarship, service and faith. It is dedicated to promoting the ideals of Jesuit education.
Immersion Programs
Each year, thousands of students from Jesuit high schools and universities participate in cultural immersion programs designed to heighten awareness of the interdependence of our world of both the privileged and the privilege-deprived. Many of the New England educational trips have affiliated with programs in Haiti, Jamaica, El Salvador, Mexico and other Latin American and Caribbean nations. Domestic immersion trips to Appalachia and along the US-Mexico border are also established.