Six Decades. One Mission.

Since 1962, Verbum Dei has formed young men of competence, conscience, compassion, and faith — and lately, the rest of Los Angeles has been taking notice too.

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1962

Founded in Watts

2002

Joined the Cristo Rey Network

75+

Corporate Partners

2022

Became an independent Jesuit School

OUR STORY

From Watts to the World.

1962 – 1964

Founded by the Society of the Divine Word at St. Leo’s Parish under Fr. Joseph Francis, SVD — the first Black principal of a Catholic high school in the U.S. — then moved to the Central Avenue campus in 1964.

1965 – 2001

Through the Watts Riots and decades of economic hardship, Verbum Dei stayed a source of hope — building a tradition of academic achievement, championship athletics, and brotherhood.

2002

Joined the Cristo Rey Network under Jesuit leadership and launched the Corporate Work Study Program — pairing rigorous academics with four years of real professional experience.

July 1, 2022

Formally became Verbum Dei Jesuit High School — an independent Catholic, Jesuit college and career preparatory school, continuing its founding mission below.

OUR MISSION

What we exist to do.

Verbum Dei Jesuit High School is a Catholic, Cristo Rey high school that offers young men from supportive families of limited resources a college prep curriculum, corporate work experience, and faith formation that prepares them to graduate from college as men-with-and-for-others who serve their communities and pursue a more just and humane world for all.

OUR VISION

To be the Catholic, Jesuit college and career preparatory school most successful at preparing young men of Los Angeles to graduate from college and lead Spirit-filled lives of purpose and meaning.

OUR MOTTO

Work Hard. Play Hard. Pray Hard.

Jesuit schools are never content with the status quo, the known, the tried, the already existing. We are constantly driven to discover, redefine, and reach out for the magis. For us, frontiers and boundaries are not obstacles or ends, but new challenges to be faced, new opportunities to be welcomed... Mediocrity has no place in Ignatius’s worldview.General Congregation 34, Decree 2