Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The college is part of the international network of Jesuit schools begun in Messina, Sicily in 1548. Originally an all-boys school, the College now offers co-education until Year 4, and an all-boys environment from then on. In 2011, the school had 2,085 students on roll, including 76 boarders. The school is in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and is affiliated with the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), and the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS). In December 2010, The Age reported that, on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour, Xavier College ranked equal tenth among Australian schools. Grant Thomas described the school as "the best-connected school in Melbourne". Its notable alumni include one archbishop, two state governors, one deputy prime minister, one state premier, three deputy premiers, one High Court justice and numerous Supreme Court justices. History What is now called "The Senior Campus" is located in Barkers Road, Kew, 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the centre of Melbourne. The foundation stone of the campus was laid in 1872 and the school began formally in 1878 on land known originally as Mornane's Paddock. Founded as a Jesuit school, it was originally named St Francis Xavier's College. Construction continued during the school's early years, with the main oval added in 1883, and the West Wing and Great Hall in 1890. In 1900, Xavier replaced St Patrick's College in East Melbourne as the only Catholic institution among the six Associated Public Schools at that time. A Memorial Chapel on the Senior Campus was constructed in memory of Old Xaverians killed in the First World War, opening in 1934. In 1993, a multi-purpose sports centre, the Stephenson Centre (since renamed), was opened. A science facility and the Eldon Hogan Performing Arts Centre opened on the campus in 2008, with eleven science laboratories, a music rehearsal room, and a 500-seat auditorium. At his appointment as principal in October 1997, Chris McCabe was the first lay head of a Jesuit school in Australia.