Xavier High School is an American independent university-preparatory high school for boys run by the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus, in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. Named for St. Francis Xavier (1506–1552), it was founded by John Larkin in 1847 as the College of St. Francis Xavier and also known as St. Francis Xavier College. History The school was founded in 1847 by John Larkin, a professor at St. John's College in Rosehill Manor, then in Westchester County, now a part of the Borough of the Bronx, and which later became Fordham University. It taught boys from the age of eight to twenty-one. The Regents of the University of the State of New York chartered Xavier in 1861. A military-training unit began at the school in 1886 under the direction of the National Guard, and membership became mandatory in 1892. Five years later, collegiate and secondary studies were separated into different departments, and the college-level department was closed in 1912. The student regiment became a Junior ROTC unit in 1935, and the school was declared a military institute in 1968, offering four years of military science and training which would be recognized upon enrollment in any branch of the United States military. Participation in military studies was declared optional in 1971. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1927. In 2008, Xavier High School announced that then President Daniel James Gatti would be retiring. Gatti's retirement was pushed back until the end of the 2009 school year. He was succeeded by Hoboken School Superintendent, Jack Raslowsky, the school's 33rd president and the first time in history that the position would be held by a lay person. Upon ascending to the role, Raslowsky oversaw a development operation that leading to a significant physical expansion of the Xavier High School campus. In March 2021, Xavier High School announced that following a nationwide search, Kim Smith, vice president of Boston College High School, was chosen to take over as headmaster starting July 1. Smith, who would be replacing Headmaster Michael LiVigni, was to become the first female headmaster in the over 170-year history of the school. Demographics As of the 2015–16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,068 students and 69.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of