Xavier High School (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

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Xavier High School
Established	1998
Type	private/Catholic
Affiliation	Mississippi Valley Conference
Principal	Tom Keating
Students	approx. 700
Grades	9-12
Location	6300 42nd St. NE Cedar Rapids, Iowa USA
Colors	Navy Blue and Silver
Mascot	Saint Bernard
Website	www.xaviersaints.org

Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is affiliated with twelve area Catholic parishes and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque. It opened in 1998 after the two previous Catholic high schools, Regis and Lasalle, merged. Xavier High School is a member of the National Catholic Education Association and is accredited by the State of Iowa. All administrators and teachers are certified in their areas of responsibility. Fifty-eight percent of the faculty has a M.A. or Ph.D. in their area. There are approximately 700 students enrolled at the school.

[edit] Student Information

Students at Xavier High School come from primarily three "feeder" middle schools, Regis Middle School and LaSalle Middle School, the former high schools that were merged to form Xavier in 1998, as well as Saint Joseph's School in Marion, Iowa. Staff to student ratio is less than 20:1 at Xavier. 96% of Xavier graduates plan to pursue postsecondary education. Well over 90% of Xavier students are involved in at least one extra-curricular activity, while three-fourths of the student body are involved in three or more activities.

[edit] Athletics

Xavier is well known throughout the state for its excellence in athletics. Men's baseball, women's basketball, women's cross country, men's cross country, women's soccer and men's soccer have all achieved dominance throughout the state of Iowa, recently winning championships in classes 3A, 3A, 1A, and 1A, respectively. Men's basketball, women's tennis, volleyball, and women's softball have all qualified for the state tournament recently as well. Xavier's football program has also discovered success in 2006, ranked #2 in the state by the Des Moines Register as of October 9, 2006 and winning the 4A state championship in 2006 going 13-0. They have had many athletes go on to play college and professional sports including Ryan Sweeney (2003 alum) who now plays for the Chicago White Sox.

[edit] Fine Arts

Xavier has two extra-curricular show choirs, Xhilaration and Xcitement, three curricular choirs - Women's Chorale, Chorale, and Xavier Singers, and one extra-curricular select ensemble, Voce. Xavier's varsity show choir, Xhilaration, has been very succesful under the direction of Andrew Last, who arrived at the school in 2003. Xhilaration is two-time defending champion of Sioux City's show choir competition "Sing All About It" and is considered one of the best choirs in Cedar Rapids. Andrew Last has also directed the Xavier musicals Damn Yankees, Once on This Island, and will direct the upcoming musical She Loves Me along with drama director Kim Mackey.