DETROIT — After 20 years, Loyola High School has shown that the traditional Jesuit approach to education can also work in a non-traditional setting.

Long known for operating college preparatory schools — such as University of Detroit Jesuit — that offer academic excellence for exemplary students, the Jesuits decided in 1992 to try a different kind of high school.

Loyola was launched to serve students willing to sign up for an academically rigorous program, even though their past school experiences might not have served them well. In fact, some come to Loyola as much as two to three years behind their grade level.

“Loyola offers a student and his family an opportunity to break the cycle of underperformance and to chart a new path for success,” said Jesuit Fr. Mark Luedtke, who took over as president of Loyola High School of Detroit in July 2012.

“When a student enrolls, we meet him where is academically,” Fr. Luedtke said. “Our curriculum is very traditional; by the time a student graduates, he will have more opportunities available to him than if he had continued on his former path.”

In fact, all 400 Loyola graduates have had the opportunity to go on to college, although some have made other choices, such as going into the armed services or to police or fire academies or right into the working world.

There are 140 students and 38 educators and staff at the four-year, all-male high school. Tuition is $4,100 per year. That’s not much compared to the cost of other private high schools in the area, but can be a fortune for a family facing economic difficulties or where a student’s parents are not participating fully in his life.

But despite such challenges, academic achievement is possible, Loyola’s history shows.

“Families are required to support their students through volunteering at the school and to pay as much of the tuition as they can afford. What the families cannot or do not pay is covered by generous donors and the work-study program,” Fr. Luedtke said.

It might not be easy, but the dedication pays off.

“Our students strive to make progress every day. When I come to school in the morning, I feel the positive energy and effort that fuels hope and change for a brighter future for these young men, their families, and Detroit,” Fr. Luedtke said.