The original four-story school building was constructed in 1949, with a two-story addition, for six stories total, completed in 1957.

In recent years, Pius has twice been named a National Blue Ribbon School.

The Theater and English departments co-produced the Metro Milwaukee Young Playwrights Competition in 2005 and 2006 before the project was tabled.

The newest academic department is engineering, which offers a certified program called "Project Lead the Way" that prepares students for college engineering programs and allows them to earn college credit while in high school.

Instead of homerooms, Pius has TAC (Teacher Advisor Contact) rooms, a mixture of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Pius XI is a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and participates in the Woodland Conference.

The boys' team finished with a school record of 24-1 and #1 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's state and area polls.