 The school opened in 1959 as Pomona Catholic Boys High School and was renamed in 1967 as Damien High School, in honor of St. Damien de Veuster, SS.CC., who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday October 11, 2009.The Sacred Heart Fathers have staffed and administered the school since its beginning in La Verne.The courage and capacity for self-sacrifice in the cause of others, is encouraged as an impetus toward social causes in the lives of Damien's students.