Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School was the dream of Fr. William Schmidt, SJ. Ordained on June 16, 1943, at the Jesuit training center West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Ind., Fr. Schmidt returned to Indiana 16 years later to organize a Jesuit high school in Indianapolis.

He began much as St. Ignatius Loyola began his own ministry in the 16th century. Fr. Schmidt had nothing of his own so he begged for assistance to build a school. Working from a tiny office in the Circle Tower in downtown Indianapolis, Fr. Schmidt enlisted the help of Archbishop Paul Schulte. Several archdiocesan priests did likewise. Among them was Msgr. Charles Ross, with whom Fr. Schmidt lived at St. Pius X Rectory.

Indianapolis and the Society of Jesus both provided for Brebeuf Jesuit – spiritually and financially. As the school grew in strength and in the affection of the people of Indianapolis, that support has continued.

For the Brebeuf Jesuit campus, Fr. Schmidt chose farmland on, what was then, two-lane Route 100 northwest of Indianapolis. It seemed a nice quiet setting for a school to prepare city boys for college. The local fire department burned down the farmhouse that stood lord of the cornfields, and as work on the building itself began, Fr. Schmidt was on hand to see that it was done right. And he remained on hand for six years after the school opened to see that it was run right.

Brebeuf Jesuit opened as Brebeuf Preparatory School on Sept. 4, 1962, with 10 Jesuits, two lay teachers and 167 freshman boys. On Sept. 7, 1965, when the school opened with all four classes, 633 students studied with 22 Jesuit and 15 lay faculty and staff members. In August 1976, the school welcome 156 young women to make Brebeuf co-educational.