It is located in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and is owned and operated by the De La Salle Christian Brothers Midwest District and is the second oldest Lasallian school in the United States.

The school was founded in 1850 under the name St. Joseph's Academy by three French-speaking Christian Brothers who had come to St. Louis the previous year from Montreal, Quebec.

Concerns regarding team travel from Europe, and a lack of amateur players of the sport, were addressed when the Cadets of Christian Brothers College (along with the Raiders, a soccer team made up from members of St. Rose Parish Church Athletics Association) were invited to represent the United States in the association football tournament of the 1904 Summer Olympic Games.

The second-place finish remains the best result achieved by a United States men's soccer team at the Olympic Games.

The 11 members of the school team included three brothers, John, Thomas, and Charles January, and the youngest of the siblings was just 16 years old at the time.

Washington University in St. Louis allowed CBC to use the former Smith Academy building for the rest of the academic year.

In 1998, the CBC Board of Directors announced the school would move eight miles westward to a new campus in West St. Louis County.

[citation needed] In January 2006, CBC announced plans to begin drug testing all students during the 2007-08 academic year.

Carved into the southern hill of the campus, Ross Stadium is known for its dusk time shadows and sun rays during early season football games.

The turf that was used to replace the original surface is from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and hosted the BCS National Championship and several Bowl Games.

The Cerre Players, headed by Thomas Murray and Ed Goetz, are noted for performance- plays and musicals that have included High School Musical On Stage!, A Few Good Men, Urinetown, Les Miserables, Footloose, Jesus Christ Superstar, Beauty and the Beast, Crazy for You, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Oklahoma!, and Sweeney Todd.