Our History

Regis Jesuit High School traces its origins to Las Vegas College and was founded in 1877 in Las Vegas, New Mexico by Jesuits from Naples, Italy. In 1884, the Jesuits opened a second school in Morrison, Colorado.  At the invitation of J.P. Machebeuf, then bishop of Denver, four years later, the Las Vegas and Morrison schools were merged into the College of the Sacred Heart—which later became Regis College and then Regis University—and moved to West 52nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard in northwest Denver.

In 1921, the high school and college were formally separated into two distinct entities. In 1979, they became separate corporations. With the completion of a new high school building on the college campus in 1984, Regis Jesuit High School moved out of the Regis University facilities, but soon outgrew that building as well. On September 16, 1989, the cornerstone was laid for the new campus in Aurora, Colorado. Classes began on the Campbell Campus the following September.

In January 1997, Regis Jesuit purchased an additional 35 acres adjacent to the original acreage in hopes of expanding the campus at some point. In 2001, the Board of Trustees, with the support of the Archdiocese of Denver, voted to open a second division of the school. The addition would offer the same high-quality, single-gender educational experience to young women as the school had offered young men since its inception. On April 11, 2003, ground was broken for a new facility for the Boys Division, and plans were made to renovate the existing school building for the arrival of the Girls Division in 2004.

In the fall of 2003, the Girls Division opened at St. Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church with 170 freshmen and sophomores. For the 2004-05 school year, the Girls Division moved into their refurbished building on the Campbell Campus, while the Boys Division started classes in their new building on the same campus. With the addition of the Girls Division, Regis Jesuit became only the second Jesuit school in the world to offer an all-girls education (the other is in the Philippines) and is the only co-divisional Jesuit school in the country.

In February 2014, the Steele Center, containing facilities for the performing arts, communications, college counseling as well as a student commons area, opened between the two Divisions. It was originally called the Performing Arts Center & Student Commons but was renamed in June 2015 in honor of Rev. Philip G. Steele, SJ ’66, who served as the school’s President from 2006-15. With facilities intended for use by all students, it is both the physical and spiritual heart of the school. A statue of the school’s patron, St. John Francis Regis, by Bolivian-born artist, Pablo Eduardo, was installed in front of the Steele Center in October 2016, further enlivening this shared space.

One of the school’s strategic objectives, securing the last large piece of open property adjacent to the campus, was accomplished in April 2017 when an additional 18 acres of land was purchased from the long-time owner. Utilization of this additional land was determined through a master planning process finalized in 2020. Conceptual plans have been formulated to develop the land for athletic use and additional parking. 

During the 2017-18 school year, the school celebrated 140 years since its founding by noting the tremendous journey of the institution thus far. During that same year, Regis Jesuit also completed an assessment of its organizational structure and began moving to a structure with one principal overseeing academic and affective programming with the support of several cross-divisional administrators. The goals of the change were to streamline communications and decision-making and to improve the single-gender educational experience we offer. This structure went into effect during the summer of 2018 and was implemented fully and in steady-state operational mode by 2020.

During the 2019-20 school year, Regis Jesuit launched Inspire & Ignite 2025, its strategic vision for access, innovation and excellence to guide our continued progress forward. Learn more about this strategic plan at www.regisjesuit.com/StrategicPlan.