Boston College High School

The premier Roman Catholic academy in the Greater Boston area, Boston College High School was founded in 1863 as a Jesuit preparatory school for Boston College (SE20); both were originally located in the South End. Boston College moved to Chestnut Hill in 1917, and the high school became a separate institution one decade later. In 1948, the school purchased seventy acres at Columbia Point and began construction of a new campus, designed by Maginnis and Walsh, the dominant architects for the Catholic archdiocese. McElroy Hall (1949, Maginnis and Walsh), a three-story Flemish-bond brick structure with central limestone tower surmounted by an aluminum steeple and crucifix, welcomed the first classes of juniors and seniors in 1950, and the entire school relocated in 1954 with the completion of the similar Cushing Hall (1953, Maginnis and Walsh; 1995 library and media center renovation, Tsoi/Kobus Associates). The construction of Loyola Hall (1955, Maginnis, Walsh and Kennedy), a two-story brick structure with a single-level limestone-covered chapel, allowed the Jesuit faculty to move here from their James Street residence in 1957. Maintaining a similar modernist brick and limestone vocabulary, later additions have included the Walsh Hall Science Center (1965, Maginnis, Walsh and Kennedy); the Student Training, Athletics, and Recreation Complex (1975); and the McNeice Pavilion (1987, Daniel F. Tully Associates). In 2003, Tsoi/Kobus designed a new addition for administration offices, science classrooms, student cafeteria, and commons that will consume the courtyard between McElroy, Cushing, and Loyola halls, creating a new entrance and focus for the complex and a fuller integration of facilities.