St. Joseph's Preparatory School, known as "The Prep", is an urban, private, Catholic, college preparatory school founded in 1851 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is run by the Jesuits.
History
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In 1851, St. Joseph’s College opened in the buildings of St. Joseph’s Parish off Willings Alley in Philadelphia, just a few blocks from Independence Hall. By then, a permanent church had replaced the old Chapel attached to the Jesuit Residence. On September 15, 1851, ninety-five students greeted Rev. Felix Barbelin, the first president of St. Joseph’s College, for their first day of class. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered the school and it was incorporated as "The St. Joseph's College In The City of Philadelphia", on January 29, 1852.
In 1866, the land that is now St. Joseph's Prep was open country near the Centennial Exposition in Fairmount Park. Around this time, the Jesuits of the Maryland Province were planning to open another parish in a part of the city more conducive to operating a college. The Girard area seemed like a natural location because it was a blossoming suburb with Girard College, Eastern State Penitentiary, a hospital, and a reservoir nearby. Father Barbelin found an undeveloped block between 17th and 18th Streets and bounded on the north and south by Thompson and Stiles Streets. Here the Church of the Gesu and St. Joseph's Prep were built.
The Prep's school building, which had housed students for nearly 75 years, was almost completely destroyed by fire on the night of January 30, 1966. After fierce debate over the location and construction of a new school building â€" which included plans to relocate outside the city limits â€" the new Prep building, with modern (and fireproof) flourishes, opened in 1968 at the same location.
Church of the Gesu
In the early 1990s the Jesuits permitted the Gesu Parish to be closed, although the former parish school has been maintained as a private Catholic school. The Prep purchased the adjacent Church of the Gesu (named for the Society of Jesus' original church in Rome) from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It now serves as the school's chapel.
Changes
St. Joseph's was one of many religiously-affiliated secondary institutions in the Delaware Valley marked for changes in the early 1990s. At one point, the administration strongly considered a move from single-sex to co-educational classrooms due to low enrollment; similar changes had been implemented at other Jesuit secondary institutions such as Scranton Preparatory School. However, in subsequent years, both admissions and enrollment have substantially increased, removing the need for gender integration.
In the summer, The Prep hosts a pre-7th- and pre-8th-grade program for 5 weeks for girls and boys going into 7th and 8th grades. The program includes a variety of activities, including swimming, table tennis, wiffle ball, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. It also includes classes in computers, drama, math, and literature and language arts.
Mission
"The mission of St. Joseph’s Prep, as a Catholic, Jesuit, urban, college preparatory school, is to develop the minds, hearts, souls, and characters of young men in their pursuit of becoming men for and with others."
In the summer of 2006, the Prep community began an intensive program of "mission renewal", so as to reaffirm the core tenets of the school's philosophy and thus differentiate it from similar Catholic secondary institutions in the area. This process is ongoing.
Academics
The Prep offers a four-year college preparatory program geared to intellectually talented students. Its faculty has an average of 17 years of service. Of the full-time faculty of approximately 80 men and women, over 91% possess master's degrees.
Graduation Requirements: To graduate, a student must complete 26 academic credits, satisfy the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requirement for physical education and fulfill community service requirements (5 hours for freshman, 10 hours for sophomores, 20 hours for juniors, 40 hours for seniors) through the Ignatian Service Program. Course requirements include: five years of foreign language study (with a minimum of two years of a modern language, and two years of Latin or Greek), English (four years), Fine Arts (one semester), history (three years, including one year of Government), mathematics (four years, or three years of mathematics and one year of computer science), religious studies (four years) and science (three years).
Special Academic Opportunities: Advanced Placement courses are offered in 15 areas of study, including English, history, Latin, mathematics, psychology, science, and computer science. All students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses are required to take the Advanced Placement examinations.
Accreditations: The Prep is fully accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. It is also an active member of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, the National Catholic Education Association, the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools, and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools.
Community
St. Joseph's Preparatory School, one of 57 Jesuit secondary institutions in the United States, is located just north of Center City Philadelphia. The present student body includes residents of metropolitan Philadelphia (30%), the surrounding suburban communities (50%), and New Jersey (20%).
Athletics
The Prep's athletic teams compete in the Philadelphia Catholic League (16 schools). The Prep joined the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in the 2007-2008 school year. The Prep offers the following athletic programs:
Fall: cross country, football (varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen), crew (varsity and junior varsity), soccer (varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen), squash (varsity and junior varsity), Ultimate Frisbee (club), and golf.
Winter: basketball (varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen), bowling (varsity and junior varsity), indoor track and field, swimming, wrestling (varsity and junior varsity), and ice hockey (varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen).
Spring: baseball (varsity, junior varsity, and freshman), crew (varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen), volleyball, lacrosse, outdoor track and field, tennis, Ultimate Frisbee (club), and rugby (club). Since 1987, the boys senior eight crew team has won the Edward T. Stotesbury Cup in national competition ten times.
The Prep football team won back-to-back state championships, winning the Class AAAA State Championship in 2013 and 2014. Despite losing to La Salle College High School early in the 2015 playoffs, the St. Joseph's Prep Football team won the first ever AAAAAA PIAA State Championship. The Hawks defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic by a score of 42-7 at HersheyPark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Notable alumni
- John McShain (Class of 1914), American building contractor; known as "The Man Who Built Washington"
- Henry Jones (Class of 1931), Tony Award-winning actor
- Jim McKay (Class of 1939), ABC Sports anchorman; contributor of services to 2006 FIFA World Cup
- Alexander Haig (Class of 1942), former Secretary of State during the Reagan Administration
- The Most Rev. Francis B. Schulte (Class of 1944), retired Archbishop of New Orleans
- William J. Byron, S.J. (Class of 1945), former President of The Catholic University of America and the University of Scranton; President of the Prep, 2006-2008
- Matthew J. Ryan (Class of 1950), former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (R)
- Henry Gibson (Class of 1953), former star of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- Cardinal John Foley (Class of 1953), former president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and former Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
- The Most Rev. Joseph Anthony Galante (Class of 1956), former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey
- William J. Green, III (Class of 1956), former congressman; former Mayor of Philadelphia
- Andrew von Eschenbach (Class of 1959), former United States Commissioner of Food and Drugs, director at BioTime, a biotechnology company
- Vince Fumo (Class of 1960), former Pennsylvania State Senator (D); former Ranking Democratic Member of the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee
- Matt Guokas (Class of 1962), former head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic
- Robert L. Barchi (Class of 1964), president of Rutgers University; former president of Thomas Jefferson University
- Jimmy Bruno (Class of 1971), jazz guitarist
- William K. Greenlee (Class of 1971), Philadelphia City Councilman (D)
- Phil Martelli (Class of 1972), head coach, Saint Joseph's University basketball team
- Gerald Austin McHugh, Jr. (Class of 1972), judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Navy Rear Admiral Joseph F. Kilkenny (Class of 1973), commander, U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group 10 and Naval Recruiting Command
- Frank Quattrone (Class of 1973), investment banker; founder/CEO of Qatalyst Group
- Navy Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber (Class of 1977), Chief of Staff for Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn; director for Policy, Resources and Strategy for U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa
- Michael A. Nutter (Class of 1975), former Philadelphia City Councilman (D); former Mayor of Philadelphia
- Jim Kenney (Class of 1976), former Philadelphia City Councilman (D) (1992â€"2015); Mayor of Philadelphia
- Johnny Dougherty (Class of 1978), Business Manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
- Brian J. O'Neill (Class of 1978), Minority Leader of the Philadelphia City Council (R)
- Jim Knowles (Class of 1983), defensive coordinator, Duke University football team
- Rich Gannon (Class of 1983), former professional football player; won NFL Most Valuable Player Award in the 2002 season, helped the Oakland Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII
- Tom Burgoyne (Class of 1983), mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Phanatic
- Army Major Brian J. Reed (Class of 1985), operations officer, Fourth Infantry Division's First Brigade Combat Team; planner for Operation Red Dawn; member of the University of Maryland's Center for Research on Military Organization
- Tony Braithwaite (Class of 1989), Barrymore Award-winning actor
- Peter Cipollone (Class of 1989), 2004 Olympic gold-medalist and world record-holder in rowing
- Colin Farrell (Class of 2001), World Champion rower and Head Coach for University of Pennsylvania Lightweight Men's Crew
- Frank Costa (Class of 1990), former Miami Hurricanes quarterback
- Matthew Kaness (Class of 1991), CEO ModCloth
- Rob McElhenney (Class of 1995), creator and co-star of the TV show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Joe Decamara (Class of 1996), Co Host of the mid day show on Sports Talk Radio 94 WIP
- Jason Mulgrew (Class of 1997), blogger and author of "Everything is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong"
- Victor Hobson (Class of 1998), NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals
- David Timby (Class of 1997), co-founder of Waggl
- Michael Rady (Class of 1999), actor featured in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and star of TV drama "Melrose Place"
- Daniel Kamihira White (Class of 1999), magician, host of the Discovery Channel show The Supernaturalist
- Matt Duke (Class of 2003), singer-songwriter/musician signed to the label Rykodisc, released multiple albums
- Reggie Redding (Class of 2006), Villanova Basketball star
- Drew Kramer (Class of 2001), Music, Television and Video Producer
Capital campaign
The Prep completed a $30 million capital campaign, which involved transforming the nearby former Jesuit Residence (adjacent to the Gesu Church) into a new academic center and cafeteria: Jesuit Hall and The Sauter Dining Hall. The renovations are meant to ease pressure on the main academic building (which held almost 1,000 students, while designed for a smaller student population), and allow the Prep to provide more need-based scholarships and better implementation of technology.
References
- Twyman, Anthony S., "Prepped for Politics". Philadelphia Inquirer. 23 November 2005.
External links
- St. Joseph's Prep Official Site
- Admissions