A Glimpse of Loyola
Established in 1900, Loyola School is an independent, coeducational, Jesuit high school, the only school of its kind in this vibrant New York City. Loyola provides a rigorous college preparatory education that is marked by individual attention and by a close-knit, talented, and diverse community of students and parents, and teachers and administrators. This community bonds to collaborate in the transformation of “women and men for others.”
Loyola School is a very special place. Rooted in Jesuit ideals and traditions, alongside our independent status and dedication to innovation, students flourish! With a student enrollment of approximately 220, the class size average of 15 students promotes personal attention and individual participation. Over its 120 year history, Loyola School has graduated actors and actresses; lawyers and doctors; college athletes, teachers and theologians; NASA and civil engineers; Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and National Book Award winners; a Rhodes scholar and a NYC mayor; bankers and industrialists; an NFL founding family; and thousands of life-long friendships.
Loyola School has launched this new five year student-centered strategic vision, Inspiring Excellence, to advance our recognition as a preeminent college preparatory learning community focused on developing well-rounded, Ignatian leaders committed to the service of others through excellence in teaching and learning. This vision acknowledges our rich history and forges us ahead to embrace the great opportunities a hope-filled future will hold.
A Message from the President
Dear Friends,
During these historic days, I have found myself thinking about the film The Two Popes. In this very engaging movie, Jonathan Pryce, playing the role of Pope Francis, and Anthony Hopkins, playing the role of Pope Benedict, talked a great deal about the future and what lies ahead for the Church. Through our new Strategic Vision, Inspiring Excellence, we are looking forward to exciting times ahead for our Loyola School and we believe that this plan anticipates wonderful opportunities, charts positive change, and, of course, inspires excellence.
Loyola School is rich in tradition, and as a result of our strategic planning efforts we hope to enhance that tradition of excellence. In your review, you will note that this vision addresses and recognizes:
- Our Jesuit and Independent school identities;
- The importance of forward-looking student centered teaching and learning;
- A need to embrace and contribute to the world that surrounds us.
Our strategic vision looks to make our Loyola School even stronger. While acknowledging that all plans are evolutionary, this plan will help prepare us for the opportunities that inevitably await. I am very grateful to our community (faculty, trustees, alumni, parents, etc.) for their help in forming this plan and I am especially thankful for the assistance of: our Principal, Jim Lyness; our Vice President for Advancement, Maria Lopez-Ona; our Vice President for Finance, Ed Knapp; and our Director of Admissions, Ashley Pinnell. Moreover, our Board of Trustees, led by Chair Mary Claire Lagno P’08, embraced the work of strategic planning, and our now defined themes, goals, and action steps were fully endorsed by trustees and board committee members. I must also mention that our strategic planning process over the past few years was directed by R.J. Valentino, of the Napa Group, who pushed all of us to imagine what is best for Loyola School.
As our vision has developed, we have not sat idly by; in fact, we have actively looked to address identified strategic needs immediately, including conducting detailed planning for a potential building expansion and moving forward with equity and inclusion efforts. We continue to imagine what the best possible educational setting will be for our faculty and students, informed by our 120 year in-person learning and recent hybrid learning experiences. We are excited by the possibilities of Loyola School’s student-centered and technologically advanced future, and I thank you for supporting what we hope is a compelling vision.
Sincerely,
Tony Oroszlany ’87
President
A Message from the Board Chair
Dear Loyola School Community,
We had imagined unveiling Loyola School’s Strategic Vision, Inspiring Excellence, in April of 2020, but then an unprecedented global pandemic took control. We, along with all around the globe, found ourselves united in an unimaginable transition to on-line, distance learning, practically overnight. Horrific racial injustice and brutality occurred in late May, exposing inequities in our country, as well as within our school community. And so, while this new vision continues to embrace our innate pride in being Jesuit, co-educational and independent, it now contemplates and accentuates what we see more clearly, and appreciate more keenly, in living up to the promises of our Jesuit mission to pursue and restore social justice. This vision underlines academic innovation as well as diversity, equity and inclusion as a priority.
With this unique identity, and as a pre-eminent college, preparatory learning community, Loyola School is deeply committed to influencing mission-related academic and co-curricular teaching and learning. By placing the student and faculty at the center of this Strategic Vision, Loyola School offers a lens through which to blend ambitious academic programming alongside our Ignatian set of values. Loyola develops well-rounded leaders of competence, conscience, compassion and commitment. Graduates aspire to become more open to growth, academically excellent, more loving, religious, and committed to doing justice.
This new Strategic Vision embraces a number of key themes: developing global Ignatian leaders; embracing tradition along with innovation, and journeying together toward a hope-filled future. These guiding principles challenge our students, faculty, and broader community to engage with one another to become more self-reflective and curious, while becoming increasingly active in addressing the complex needs of the world around us.
Our board of trustees is committed to personifying the values set forth for Loyola School. The board will offer all resources necessary to inspire excellence in teaching and learning, inside and outside the classroom, along with a well-funded endowment, outstanding faculty and state-of-the-art learning space, blending physical and virtual environments.
We recognize that communities, not individuals, move aspirational plans like this forward, and we look to you for your support of Loyola’s vision and goals.
I am gratified that Loyola School has set such an inspiring and distinctive path forward, and am confident that with the school’s leadership, our faculty, board, and close-knit community, we will, together, fulfill this exciting vision for the future.
Respectfully yours,
Mary Claire Lagno P ’08
Chair, Board of Trustees