Verbum Dei Jesuit High School, nicknamed the Verb, is a private Catholic all-boys college preparatory school sponsored by the Society of Jesus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1962 by the Society of the Divine Word to serve students from the Watts neighborhood and the surrounding communities who are economically and academically under-served.
Verbum Dei is known for sending its graduates to some of the more selective colleges in the United States and has held a 100% success rate for sending graduating seniors to college.[2][3]
History
Verbum Dei was founded in 1962 by the Divine Word Missionaries with the permission and recommendation of Cardinal James McIntyre to serve the educational needs of the black community of South Los Angeles. The school was named after one of Jesus' epithets, Verbum Dei ("the Word of God"). Bishop Joseph Francis, S.V.D., led the founding team and was the school's first principal. The Society maintained a presence at the school until December 2006, when the long-time Verbum Dei faculty/staff member Br. Richard "Rich" Morrill, S.V.D.,[4] left because of terminal illness.
At some point, the school expanded its mission in order to also serve the educational needs of the Latino community of South Los Angeles.
Verbum Dei's performance began to decline in the 1980s and suffered further during the neighborhood gang wars of the 1990s; it experienced declining enrollment and instability within the administration. However, it received significant financial help in the mid-1990s and improvements were made in various buildings on campus and new buildings were added.
In 2000, Cardinal Roger Mahony asked the California Province of the Society of Jesus to assist in the administration of the school, asserting that the school had to improve significantly by 2006 to avoid permanent shutdown. Verbum Dei became recognized as a Jesuit school at that point.[5] Leading the Jesuit team was Fr Bill Wood. The school became a member of the Cristo Rey Network and adopted its current scholastic model (see Corporate Work Study Program below) in 2002.
On July 1, 2022, the school changed its name to Verbum Dei Jesuit High School to reflect fully transitioning to a school solely sponsored by the Jesuits. The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary have also been providing a sister to the Verbum Dei staff.
Like other members of the Cristo Rey Network, Verbum Dei assigns students to jobs that are "donated" by local white-collar companies and non-profit entities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. This experience is intended to acclimate students to corporate culture, build their character and provide a motive for seeking higher education and productive careers.
The money earned by the students defrays the cost of the students' education. Participating organizations give one "full-time equivalent" student internship for a fee of $28,000. The position is filled by carefully selected young men from low-income families with an average work attendance of 99 percent. Each student works five full days a month on a rotational basis, and they attend classes and participate in extracurricular activities the remaining days. Ninety-seven percent of the student interns receive a performance evaluation of good or excellent. While almost all students benefit from various internship experiences, 37 percent of seniors have remained at the company they were placed with in their freshman year.[6]
Verbum Dei provides transportation, insurance, workers' compensation, and work permits for its student interns. The CWSP staff has a program coordinator to co-manage the students.[7]
Activities
Verbum Dei High School's teams have won national championships in various sports, including basketball.[8]
Basketball: CIF champions – 1969 through 1974, 1979, 1994-1995, 1998-1999, 2002-2003; runners-up – 1978, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2004
Students can choose from 22 extracurricular activities,[9] including working to produce films in partnership with Underground film company with the assistance of J. J. Abrams and Will Smith.[10]
Kearney, G. R. More Than a Dream: The Cristo Rey Story: How One School's Vision Is Changing the World. Chicago, Ill: Loyola Press, 2008. ISBN978-0-82-942576-5
