All-boys Jesuit High School to open Carmichael campus to female students in 2027
Jesuit High School in Carmichael will begin educating girls in fall 2027, according to a letter sent to families on Saturday that was obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
The school’s board of trustees said Sunday it had “overwhelmingly approved” the decision to educate both girls and boys, citing a “changing educational landscape,” like evolving demographic enrollment trends, financial long-term stability and consideration for Catholic families with female children.
Jesuit was founded in 1963 as an all-boys Catholic college preparatory school and has a student body of 953 as of the current school year, according to its website.
Jesuit, which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento but operated by the Jesuit order, will have two separate divisions for boys and girls to “preserve the benefits of single-sex education,” and offer co-educational extracurricular activities.
It was not clear how Jesuit’s switch will affect St. Francis Catholic High School, the all-girls school in East Sacramento operated by the diocese. Representatives for Bishop Jaime Soto did not respond to requests for comment Sunday.
“This expansion allows us to share our mission with an even broader community, forming young men and women for others into leaders of competence, conscience, compassion, and commitment,” Jesuit board Chair-elect Amy Rogers said in the letter Saturday to the school community ahead of the announement.
Rogers declined to comment when contacted Sunday, and directed a Bee reporter to Jesuit spokesperson Elizabeth Sands, who did not immediately respond. An assistant for Jesuit principal Michael Woods also did not immediately respond to a voicemail left Sunday afternoon.
Jesuit trustees said they had made the decision to go co-ed with support from Jesuit school President Chris Alling and Fr. Sean Carroll, the Provincial of the Jesuits West Province, which oversees Jesuit parishes and schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
“I am grateful for the vision and leadership of the board of trustees and president of Jesuit High School as they look toward the future,” Carroll said in the letter. “The mission of Jesuit education continues to thrive in Sacramento, and we look forward to welcoming young women into this grace-filled tradition at Jesuit High.”
Jesuit will open co-divisional applications for girls starting in October 2026 through January 2027. After that, the first cohort of female students will start in August 2027, according to the letter.
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 4:43 PM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Jesuit was the capital region’s only all-boys Catholic college preparatory school. While Jesuit did open that year as an all-boys school, Christian Brothers High School — founded in 1876 — was also an all-boys Catholic high school until it became co-educational in 1989.
