XBSS stands for Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools. It is a network of 13 Catholic high schools (mainly in the Northeast) that share a common mission and governance structure. Most of these schools trace their origin directly to St. Francis Xavier and the Xaverian Brothers. Our school is one of these 13 schools that takes pride in its involvement in XBSS.
The main mission of the network is to provide education to young people to be faith-filled leaders who address the growing needs of our world. Each of these schools seek to educate every student by individually targeting their unique giftedness. This is reinforced by the Xaverian brothers seeing all members of the Xaverian Schools (teachers, alumni, board directors, etc.) as partners for the mission of Catholic education.
The Xaverian Brothers taking into account of the importance of all faculty in our schools gives them the ability to create a classroom much more suitable for teaching. This reflects on the amazing education students receive.
To further educate students on the general information of the network and how it impacts our schools, there is a retreat available for six juniors every year. This retreat also includes six students from the 13 different Catholic high schools: Nazareth Regional High School, St. John’s High School, Xaverian Brothers High School, St. Xavier High School, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Mount St. Joseph High School, St. Mary’s Ryken High School, Xaverian High School, St. John’s Preparatory School, Lowell Catholic School, St. Bernard School, Malden Catholic School, and Xavier High School.
Being able to widen our view of other schools in our network provides us with a humbling experience to understand the impact the 13 schools have on their students. Cullen Spalding was one of the six juniors in XBSS in the 2023-2024 school year. Here are a few questions and his responses of the retreat:
What was your favorite experience of XBSS?
“My favorite experience of XBSS was when each school presented a small symbol of what represents them. The symbols varied from each school. Mount St. Joe’s, which is an all boys school in Baltimore, Maryland, brought a small model of their “tower.” This tower was important because once the seniors graduate they go to the top of the tower and sign their name.”
What do you feel like you gained from XBSS?
“I feel like I gained an understanding of what it means to attend a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School. I gained an understanding of the adversity that the Brothers faced when they came over. I also learned the importance of giving to others what you have been gifted with.”
What did you learn at XBSS that stuck with you?
“Something that stuck with me from the XBSS retreat was how impressive each school’s retreat was. One school that had a very interesting retreat was St. John’s Prep. At SJP, in Danvers, Massachusetts, they have a retreat that takes seniors to an old church in Boston. This area of Boston is in a very impoverished area. They are given $100 for the week and have to make ends meet.”
Additionally, to understanding the impact our schools have, we are able to learn certain activities and rules other schools have that we may bring back to St. X. For example, our afternoon prayer and our lunch prayer was an idea brought back from the XBSS retreat. Also, the Tiger Mentor program was brought back from the retreat.
XBSS is an incredible part of being a student at St. X, providing us with an amazing education and opportunities to develop ourselves. We are able to have similar missions, such as service, with 12 other schools while still being able to keep our particular identity, history, and traditions.
