Communities changes at Xavier High School

Natalie Selensky, News Writer

For the first time since its opening, Xavier High School has said goodbye to the student senate and introduced a new system for our school. Xavier welcomed the community system this school year, and it comes with a lot of change. 

The community system is a completely new setup from the previous student senate dynamic. This setup consists of five different “communities” of students, with smaller “house” groups inside of them. Students in grades 9-12, teachers and other staff members are included in each group. The entire community system is led by the Director of Communities (Erica Ireland) and School Directors. Individual communities are named after saints and led by Deans (teachers) and Community Captains (Seniors). Houses are led by student House Leaders (Seniors).

Mrs. Erica Ireland, Director of Communities, is a big contributor to the start of the community system at Xavier. As the director, she makes sure that the vision of this new system is executed in a way that provides connections with others while also focusing on the religious and cultural standpoint at Xavier. 

“The ultimate goal [of the communities] is being able to create a connection

by being in a space where faith is placed first. Kids feel like they have a home. They have a mentor or teacher that knows them, and upperclassmen who know them and are looking out for them too,” Ireland said. 

Ireland stressed the importance of students from all different grades forming

connections together in this new community system. She stated that she hopes the new setup allows students to feel more comfortable while at school, especially at the start of this school year. 

“When someone is new and comes to Xavier, they don’t have to learn about

the culture of Xavier from being in a sport or being in a classroom. They learn the culture because they go to House and they instantly have 21 people who are like, ‘Hi, welcome to Xavier! What do you need?’ They’ve got someone answering their questions,” Ireland added.

With that, Ireland also mentioned how this will help the freshman receive

guidance throughout the year, which is something she wishes could have been improved in years past. 

Mrs. Tracie Marshall is the Dean of the Mother Teresa Community, which means that

she oversees the Houses in that specific community with the senior leaders. She is happy that the community system was added and is excited for what is to come. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing more leadership come out of the senior class

because this gives them more opportunities to be leaders,” Marshall stated. 

Another thing that Marshall expressed is that she is very fond of the Houses

and their time together. 

“I just want to go to House and see my community together. I want to get more

into a rhythm of things, but they’re still very excited about it,” Marshall said.

The new community system is one of many new things at Xavier this year.

Seniors and staff are put in new leadership roles, ultimately leading to faith building opportunities for the students and connections forming between different grades. You can find out more information about the Xavier High School Community System at https://xaviersaints.org/community.