Mission
Santa Clara is a Catholic college preparatory high school committed to fostering an inclusive environment focused on spiritual, academic, emotional, and physical growth. Our purpose is to work as a community to guide and inspire our students in faith, family, and tradition. To Be a Saint is a Way of Life.
Philosophy
Education is by definition leadership. Students by nature reach out toward knowing. We lead them to the experiences and disciplines where knowledge is found: to know God as Lord, Savior, and Father, to know the world as revealed through academic inquiry, and to know themselves and the community in which they thrive. Our pursuit of intellectual excellence is formed by our identity as Catholics and rooted in our living faith, family, and tradition.
Faith, the heart of the school, is felt in the rhythmic pulse of campus life. The liturgical calendar and the cultural roots of our community come alive during our celebration of the Feast of All Souls, Dia de los Muertos, Advent Posada, and the Living Stations of the Cross. We cherish Christ in the Eucharist as the source and summit of our Catholic faith in monthly Mass and weekly Eucharistic Adoration. Our faculty practices the philosophy of servant-leadership through dedicated faith formation to grow in our own relationship with Christ. We then share this journey with our students to foster an environment where they can encounter God in His creation, revelation, and person, that they may know Him through mind, will, and heart.
Family, the body of the school, is composed of many members; each belonging to the other. Santa Clara has been home to generations of families, weaving together new bonds that will last a lifetime. We regard the unified body of staff, students, parents, alumni, and the greater world as our brothers and sisters. All are welcomed in unconditional solidarity as the living body of Christ.
Tradition, the spirit of the school, is heard in the resounding echo of St. Clare’s bell that rings through the air on graduation day, symbolizing the celebration of the successful resolution of hard work, marking the bittersweet transition from student to alumni. That echo carries on in the form of the contributions of our alumni to the community and to the world. Tradition is more than a reliving of past memories. It is exemplified daily by our teachers during morning prayer, practiced by students in each school activity, and is made visible through our living history as the oldest Catholic high school in Ventura County.
