Starting in 1874, Benedictine monks had gone to Georgia from St. Vincent Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, at the invitation of William Hickley Gross, C.Ss.R., at that time the Roman Catholic Bishop of Savannah.

He was acting in response to a mandate given to all the Catholic bishops of the nation at the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, held in 1866, to establish missions to the newly emancipated African American slaves.

[3] Having decided to place themselves under the authority of Leo Haid, O.S.B., the Abbot Nullius of Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, ten monks established a monastery in the city at 31st and Habersham Streets, where they served Sacred Heart Parish.

Advanced Placement classes are offered in Language, Literature, Calculus, Environmental Science, Human Geography, Biology, Government, American History, Economics and European History,[5] in conjunction with a religious curriculum that caters to Catholic and Jewish demographics.

The Cadets have begun a rivalry with various Savannah area high schools, such as Islands, since joining Region 3-AAAA in 2019.

[17] George K. Gannam, a 1938 Benedictine graduate, was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor and was the first Savannah resident to die during World War II.

[18] The school holds a military review and formal ceremony on or around Pearl Harbor Day (December 7) each year to commemorate Staff Sergeant Gannam.