Devotion to duty
Strong traditions and academics combine at New York City’s Catholic high schools
Each of New York City’s 46 Catholic high schools operates independently. Two separate dioceses nominally oversee them: the Archdiocese of New York for schools in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and the Diocese of Brooklyn for Brooklyn and Queens.
The schools set their own admissions standards and procedures, and 40 percent of them are now co-ed. Almost all welcome students of every faith, although four years of religion and theology classes are required for everyone. Most offer academic and need-based scholarships.
Prospective freshmen apply to 40 of the schools via the standardized Test for Admission into Catholic High Schools, or TACHS, which has already been administered for the fall of 2022. But many do admit transfer students — check with each for its policies.
Here’s a representative sample to jumpstart your search.
ARCHBISHOP MOLLOY HIGH SCHOOL
83-53 Manton St., Queens Enrollment: 1,560 (co-ed) Four-year graduation rate: 100% Tuition: $10,250 plus fees
Competitive academics and an expanded computer science program feature at Molloy’s 6-acre campus in Briarwood, a neighborhood in central Queens. The school partners with Amazon for courses like app development, drone programming and robotics, and its virtual-enterprise business students won national honors this year. New dance and video broadcast studios support artistic interests; recent productions include a 1920sera “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Among 44 sports teams, basketball is strong — two current NBA players, Orlando’s Cole Anthony and Moses Brown of the Dallas Mavericks, are Molloy products.
CATHEDRAL HIGH SCHOOL 350 E. 56th St., Manhattan Enrollment: 496 (girls) Four-year graduation rate: 100% Tuition: $9,960 plus fees
Sisterhood is powerful at Cathedral, where a nurturing environment helps girls thrive. Located in a sleek Sutton Place high-rise shared with the offices of the Archdiocese of New York, Cathedral makes the most of its midtown address: students who join honors academies dedicated to either medicine or law/business score internships at Mount Sinai, New York Presbyterian, Estée Lauder, Ernst & Young and the Manhattan district attorney’s office. A four-year sequence in American Sign Language is one of four languages. The popular Moxie Club hosts panels on women’s rights.
FORDHAM PREPARATORY SCHOOL
441 E. Fordham Rd., The Bronx Enrollment: 956 (boys) Four-year graduation rate: 100% Tuition: $22,160 plus fees
Everyone starts with at least one year of Latin or ancient Greek at Fordham Prep, where the curriculum is rooted in classical principles. The Jesuit high school offers rigorous academics — 20 AP courses and college classes at nextdoor Fordham University — and instills a sense of service: Seniors performed 17,000 hours of good works, many in the school’s South Bronx neighborhood, last year. Forty sports teams include crew and a top-tier baseball program; alum Andrew Velazquez became a fan favorite this summer when he achieved his childhood dream of becoming a New York Yankee.
REGIS HIGH SCHOOL
55 E. 84th St., Manhattan Enrollment: 533 (boys) Four-year graduation rate: 100% Tuition: none ($795 in fees)
Regis is the best Catholic high school in America, according to education rating website Niche.com’s latest list — a perch it’s held for six years running. The Jesuit institution, founded in 1914, stands out for its college-level liberal arts curriculum, its powerful alumni network, and its unique admissions process. Alone among New York’s Catholic schools, every boy attends on a full academic scholarship — based on recommendations, interviews and the results of a cognitive test — for which only baptized Roman Catholics can apply. The commitment to social justice runs deep: Much of the class time in senior year is devoted to intensive service projects at schools, nursing homes, shelters and other sites.
ST. JOSEPH HILL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL
850 Hylan Blvd., Staten Island Enrollment: 500 (girls) Four-year graduation rate: 100% Tuition: $9,000 plus fees
Freshmen at this leafy 17-acre campus in Arrochar choose a STEM track or a humanities track for four years of focused electives, starting with either a robotics course or a communication/theater class that develops speech and writing skills. A new performing arts studio supports dance and drama. Student volunteers — the “Hill’s Angels” — take Catholic social teaching beyond the classroom: During the COVID-19 pandemic, one group supplied 600 sandwiches a week to local homeless outreach centers. Top soccer and volleyball teams, two of Hill’s 14 sports, won archdiocesan championships this year.
XAVERIAN HIGH SCHOOL 7100 Shore Rd., Brooklyn Enrollment: 1,400 (co-ed) Four-year graduation rate: 100% Tuition: $16,300
Harborside Xaverian, steps from the Bay Ridge dock of the NYC Ferry, takes a targeted approach to college prep. Sophomores choose from six “pre-professional pathways,” three-year course concentrations in areas like business, law, and medicine. Biomedical students get to use the Anatomage Table, a high-tech virtual cadaver dissection system; engineering courses meet in a well-equipped specialty lab. An internship program places honors students in architecture, journalism, dentistry, law enforcement and other fields. The renowned music department encompasses 28 performing groups, including a pipe and drum corps and a singular harp ensemble.