Saint Joseph's Preparatory School

Saint Joseph's Preparatory School
Men For and With Others Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the greater glory of God)
Address
1733 West Girard Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19130 United States
Coordinates	39°58′21″N 75°9′53″W
Information
Type	Private, All-Male
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic; Society of Jesus
Established	1851
President	Rev. George Bur, SJ '59
Principal	Michael Gomez
Faculty	75
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	931  (2008)
Campus size	6.5 acres (26,000 m2)
Color(s)	Crimson and Gray
Slogan	Educating Men of Competence, Conscience & Compassion since 1851
Song	Swing on Along With the Crimson
Athletics conference	Philadelphia Catholic League
Mascot	The Hawk
Team name	Hawks
Accreditation(s)	Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Average SAT scores	615 Verbal 623 Math 614 Writing
Admissions Director	Jason Zazyczny '90
Athletic Director	James Murray '59
Website	http://www.sjprep.org

Saint Joseph's Preparatory School, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1851, is a Catholic, urban, college preparatory school for young men. The school is operated by the Society of Jesus.

History

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 1876, 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 Girard Streets. Here the Church of the Gesu and St. Joseph's Prep were built.

St. Joseph's Preparatory School

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—which included plans to relocate outside the city limits—the new Prep building, with modern (and fireproof) flourishes, opened in 1969 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 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It now serves as the school's chapel.

Church of the Gesu, built 1879-1880, towers after 1895

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-8th Grade program for 5 weeks for girls and boys going into 8th grade. The program includes a variety of activities including swimming, ping-pong, wiffleball, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. It also includes computer classes, drama classes, Math, and Literature/LA.

Mission

"The mission of St. Joseph’s Prep, a 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 70 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 (20 hours for juniors, 40 hours for seniors) through the Ignatian Service Program. Course requirements include: Six 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 forty-five (45) 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

All of the Prep's athletic teams compete in the Philadelphia Catholic League (16 schools); most participate in the eight-member Southern Division. The Prep joined the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in the 2007-2008 school year.

Fall: Cross Country, Football (varsity, junior varsity and freshmen), Crew (varsity and junior varsity), Soccer (varsity, junior varsity and freshmen), and Golf.

Winter: Basketball (varsity, junior varsity and freshmen), Bowling (varsity and junior varsity), Indoor Track, Swimming and Wrestling (varsity and junior varsity).

Spring: Baseball (varsity, junior varsity, and freshman), Crew (varsity, junior varsity and freshmen),Lacrosse, Outdoor Track and Tennis.

In addition the Prep offers a number of sports at the club level including Ultimate Frisbee, Rugby (A-Side, B-Side, U16-Side),Ice Hockey at both the Varsity AAA and JV AAA levels, Squash, and Fencing.

Notable Alumni

• John McShain — American building contractor known as "The Man Who Built Washington" (1914)
• Henry Jones — Tony Award winning actor (1931)
• Jim McKay — ABC Sports anchorman; contributor of services to 2006 FIFA World Cup (1939)
• Alexander Haig — former Secretary of State — Reagan Administration (1942)
• William J. Byron, SJ — Former President of The Catholic University of America and the University of Scranton; recent President of the Prep (1945)
• Matthew J. Ryan — former Pennsylvania House speaker (1950)
• Henry Gibson — Star of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1953)
• John Patrick Foley — Roman Catholic cardinal; former president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and former Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (1953)
• Joseph Anthony Galante — Bishop of the Diocese of Camden, NJ (1956)
• William J. Green, III — Former Congressman and Mayor of Philadelphia (1956)
• Andrew von Eschenbach — Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1959)
• Frank Quattrone — Investment banker; founder/CEO of Qatalyst Group
• Matt Guokas - Former Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic head coach (1962)
• Boris Baczynskyj — Chess master (1963)
• Robert L. Barchi — President of Thomas Jefferson University (1964)
• Joseph C. Stinson — Hollywood screenwriter, wrote the third Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact, coined "Go ahead, make my day!" (1965)
• Jimmy Bruno — Jazz Guitarist (1966)
• Phil Martelli — Head coach, Saint Joseph's University basketball team (1972)
• Navy Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber — Chief of Staff for Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn; director for Policy, Resources and Strategy for U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa (1977)
• Navy Rear Admiral Joseph F. Kilkenny — Commander, U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group 10 and Naval Recruiting Command (1973)
• Army Major Brian J. Reed — 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(1985)
• Michael A. Nutter — Former Philadelphia City Councilman (D); and current Mayor of Philadelphia (1975)
• Jim Knowles — Head coach, Cornell University football team (1983)
• Rich Gannon — Former professional football player; won NFL Most Valuable Player Award in the 2002 season, helping the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII (1983)
• Tony Braithwaite — Barrymore Award-winning actor (1989)
• Peter Cipollone — 2004 Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in rowing (1989)
• Frank Costa - Miami Hurricanes QB (1990)
• Rob McElhenney — creator and star of the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1995)
• Dwayne A. Carey — football player at Florida A&M University, two-time first team all-conference selection as an offensive lineman. (1995)
• Jason Mulgrew — blogger and author of "Everything is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong" (1997)
• Victor Hobson — NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals(1998)
• Reggie Redding — basketball player at Villanova University; earned Player of the Game honors in Villanova's 2009 Final Four loss to the University of North Carolina (2006)
• Michael Rady — Actor featured in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and current star of TV drama "Melrose Place" (1999)
• Daniel Kamihira White -- Magician, Host of the Discovery Channel show The Supernaturalist (1999)
• Jeff Civillico — International Comic Juggler and MC (2001)
• Matt Duke (musician) — singer-songwriter/musician who is currently signed to the label Rykodisc and has released multiple albums (2003)

Capital Campaign

The Prep completed a $30 million dollar 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 new 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

• "St. Joe's Prep College Information". sjprep.org.
• Twyman, Anthony S., "Prepped for Politics". Philadelphia Inquirer. 23 November 2005.
• "Capital Campaign Overview"
• "[1]"

External links

• - St. Joseph's Prep Official Site