Perhaps the greatest gift anyone can receive is a quality education in a safe environment where they can grow to the best of their abilities. Xavier's greatest contribution to the world is this: his School for Gifted Youngsters. He gave it this name as a shield. Gifted Youngsters were actually mutants, usually runaways and castaways from society. But to the public at large it sounded like a school for exceptionally intelligent students. It was this effort, more than the formation of the X-Men, that made his ideals last through generations to inspire the creation of other groups. I love this idea.

Publicly, this is a place of higher learning. But in reality it is a facility to teach mutants how to use their powers responsibly. The Main X-Men, or the first generation, are now teachers here. They teach the traditional reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as power control 101. The majority of the ranks of the X-Men were trained here. They began at the school, and then the cream of the crop were more formally trained for combat in the Danger Room.