Jesuit High School (Tampa)

Jesuit High School is a private, Catholic, all-male high school located in Tampa, Florida. Established in 1899, it operates independently of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg. The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.Jesuit of Tampa teaches a college preparatory curriculum. It has graduated many political leaders, priests, teachers, physicians, journalists, scientists, attorneys, professional athletes, writers, scholars, actors, painters, engineers, entrepreneurs, and, according to Nick Suszynski, Director of Development, 15 judges. The Alumni Association commonly refers to the high school as "Tampa's largest fraternity."The Jesuit motto is Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam which means "For the Greater Glory of God." The school encourages its students to be "Men For Others," which is a student model derived from a famous 1973 speech given by Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe. Fr. Arrupe led the Jesuits in the transitional years after Vatican II, from 1965 to 1983, when the Jesuit order incorporated that Council's vision into its institutions.HistoryJesuit High School was founded in 1899, then known as Tampa College, located in downtown Tampa, and directly affiliated with Sacred Heart Parish (formerly a Jesuit-run parish). The original site was at the corner of Florida Avenue and Madison Street.By the 1940s and 1950s Jesuit High School had begun to outgrow its original location due to increased enrollment. Father Michael Kennelly, S.J., who served as the school's president and rector from 1953 until 1959, spearheaded a $600,000 capital campaign which allowed the school to purchase 80 acres of rural grazing land on Himes Avenue in West Tampa. The campus was moved from downtown to its current location on North Himes in 1956. It was Fr. Kennelly who obtained the necessary permits and designed the new campus, which he centered around St. Anthony's Chapel.