Catholic high schools in Cleveland, OH

Catholic high schools in Cleveland

There is no official ranking of Cleveland's Catholic high schools, and "best" lists from Niche and similar sites reshuffle every year. The schools below are the ones families in the Diocese of Cleveland most often shortlist, split by gender structure so you can start with the options that fit your family. The city's two all-boys schools - St. Ignatius and St. Edward - are the most decorated names in Ohio Catholic athletics, and the all-girls and coed options around them are deep.

What families compare

• School identity - Jesuit (St. Ignatius), Holy Cross (St. Edward, Gilmour), Ursuline (Beaumont), and diocesan schools all form students differently.
• Single-gender versus coed - Cleveland runs a strong all-boys and all-girls track alongside coed schools like Gilmour and Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
• Enrollment size - from about 265 students at Benedictine to about 768 at Gilmour Academy.
• HSPT and admissions coverage - Lake Catholic in Mentor has a source-reviewed HSPT record in our directory; confirm the current policy with every other school.
• Location and commute - schools span the city (St. Ignatius, Saint Joseph Academy, VASJ) and the inner ring (St. Edward in Lakewood, Beaumont in Cleveland Heights, Magnificat in Rocky River, Gilmour in Gates Mills).

All-boys Catholic high schools in Cleveland

Cleveland's two all-boys schools anchor every "best" conversation about the city: St. Ignatius, the Jesuit school in Ohio City founded in 1886, and St. Edward, the Holy Cross school in Lakewood with the International Baccalaureate program. Both sit just outside the NCES directory snapshot, so they link to their official sites here.

All-girls Catholic high schools in Cleveland

The all-girls options range from Magnificat in Rocky River - one of the largest all-girls Catholic high schools in Ohio - to Saint Joseph Academy in the city and Beaumont in Cleveland Heights.

Coed Catholic high schools in Cleveland

The coed options cover the metro from the city itself to the eastern and western suburbs: Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Villa Angela-St. Joseph in the city, Lake Catholic in Mentor, and Cleveland Central Catholic.

The metro ring adds Trinity in Garfield Heights, the Lyceum in South Euclid, and St. Martin de Porres in the city. Compare on fit - commute, size, identity, and aid - rather than a headline rank.

HSPT & admissions at Cleveland Catholic high schools

None of the six Cleveland-city directory entries has a source-reviewed HSPT record yet, and the region's most-asked-about schools - all-boys St. Ignatius and St. Edward - sit outside the directory, so confirm the current entrance-exam policy with each school's admissions office. Lake Catholic in nearby Mentor is the one metro school with a verified HSPT page in our directory.

Cleveland metro schools with verified HSPT pages

This link opens our reviewed record of the school\u2019s exam dates, application steps, and requirements.

Cleveland Catholic high schools that use the HSPT typically test in the fall of 8th grade, most often between November and January, ahead of spring admission decisions. Each school posts its own date, usually by early fall - plan prep around the earliest date on your list rather than assuming one shared sitting.

How to prepare for the HSPT in Cleveland

Start with the free diagnostic to establish a baseline, then build a study plan around the earliest test date on your list. These guides cover the practical questions Cleveland families ask:

Cleveland's Catholic high schools sit in the Diocese of Cleveland. Ask each school whether one HSPT sitting can be shared across the schools you are applying to, and whether the test is used for admission only or also for placement and scholarship consideration.

For the fall admission cycle, Cleveland families typically research schools in the spring of 7th grade, visit during 8th-grade fall, and test between November and January. Application, financial-aid, and scholarship deadlines differ by school, so collect them in one place early and treat them as planning inputs, not reasons to choose one school over another.