Loyola School is an independent Jesuithigh school on the Upper East Side of New York City, founded in 1900 by the Society of Jesus. Originally a Roman Catholic boys school, Loyola became coeducational in 1973, becoming the only Jesuit co-edcollege preparatory high school in the Tri-State Region. With a student enrollment of two hundred, the average class size of fifteen students promotes personal attention and individual participation. Loyola education fosters lifelong learning and aims to produce graduates who are academically excellent, open to growth, religious, loving, and committed to doing justice in service to others. The school is located two city blocks east of Central Park and Museum Mile on 83rd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan. St. Ignatius Church is in the same complex and is used for various school functions. The church is listed as a NYC landmark and the complex is listed as a National Historic Place. St. Ignatius Loyola School is an elementary school that also shares the complex but there is no official link between the schools.
History
The Rev. Robert Fulton,, eleventh pastor of St. Lawrence O'Toole, purchased the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 83rd Street adjacent to his church. The purchase price was $7,500.00. Upon the church's rebuilding and re-dedication, the Society of Jesus strengthened their ties to this parish by founding the school, which was encouraged by the Dominicans at St. Vincent Ferrer and the Paulist Fathers at St. Paul the Apostle. Ground was broken for the new school in February 1899. The school opened to students in October 1900 with classes held in the nearby priests' residence. After various building material strikes delayed completion, the six-story Renaissance Revival style steel-framed school opened on December 17, 1900, and was formally dedicated by Michael A. Corrigan, Archbishop of New York, on February 11, 1901. The New York Herald reviewed the new "Early Renaissance Type" building, reporting that "the building cost about $125,000; and the property, taken with the lot on which it is located, represents an expenditure of over $200,000. The exterior of the building is constructed entirely of Ohio sandstone, with cornices, and a flambeau with coat of arms just over the entrance.... It is of the most advanced fireproof construction.... Altogether the building represents the highest degree of architectural excellence as applied to schools." The Latin inscription on the first floor chapel bow's blind window panel of the Park Avenue facade reads "SANCT IGNATIO / DE LOYOLA / PATRI LEGIFERO / SOCIETATIS JESV / QVI VBICVMQVE / GENTIVM / IN SPEM RELIGIONIS / ET CIVITATIS / ADOLESCENTES MORIBUS / ET BONIS ARTIBVS / IMBVIT / AEDES HAE / DEDICANTVR" which translates: "To Saint Ignatius Loyola / Founder of the Society of Jesus / who for the good of Church and State / everywhere / has stored the minds of youth / with virtue and learning / these buildings are dedicated." The chapel was decorated by Brother Francis C. Schroen, S.J.,, who had previously been a designer at the Jesuit Georgetown University. The stained glass was by Louis C. Tiffany and above Schroen's white marble altar was a canopied statue of Our Lady of Lourdes by the New York-sculptor Joseph Sibbel. The six-story gymnasium and rectory on 43–63 E 83rd Street was built 1953 to designs by architects Eggers & Higgins at a reported cost of $800,000. The five-story extension at 39–41 E 83rd Street was completed by the same architects in 1954 at a reported cost of $290,000.
