Verbum Dei was founded in 1962 by the Divine Word Missionaries with the permission and recommendation of
Cardinal James McIntyre to serve the educational needs of the black community of
South Los Angeles. The school was named after one of
Jesus'
epithets,
Verbum Dei ("the Word of God"). Bishop
Joseph Francis, S.V.D., led the founding team and was the school's first principal. The Society maintained a presence at the school until December 2006, when the long-time Verbum Dei faculty/staff member Br. Richard "Rich" Morrill, S.V.D., left because of terminal illness. At some point, the school expanded its mission in order to also serve the educational needs of the
Latino community of South Los Angeles. Verbum Dei's performance began to decline in the 1980s and suffered further during the neighborhood
gang wars of the 1990s; it experienced declining enrollment and instability within the administration. However, it received significant financial help in the mid-1990s and improvements were made in various buildings on campus and new buildings were added. In 2000, Cardinal
Roger Mahony asked the California Province of the Society of Jesus to assist in the administration of the school, asserting that the school had to improve significantly by 2006 to avoid permanent shutdown. Verbum Dei became recognized as a Jesuit school at that point. Leading the Jesuit team was Fr Bill Wood. The school became a member of the
Cristo Rey Network and adopted its current scholastic model (see
Corporate Work Study Program below) in 2002. On July 1, 2022, the school changed its name to Verbum Dei Jesuit High School to reflect fully transitioning to a school solely sponsored by the Jesuits. The
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary have also been providing a
sister to the Verbum Dei staff. == Accreditation ==