Fordham Preparatory School

Fordham Preparatory School
File:Color seal trans.jpg
Address
441 East Fordham Road Northeastern United States New York City (Fordham, Bronx) , New York 10458 United States
Coordinates	40°51′41″N 73°53′22″W
Information
Type	Independent, All-Male
Motto	Amor et Conscia Virtus (Love and Conscious Virtue)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic; Jesuit
Patron saint(s)	Ignatius of Loyola
Established	1841
Founder	Most Reverend John Hughes
President	Rev. Kenneth Boller, SJ
Principal	Robert Gomprecht
Faculty	89
Teaching staff	80
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	950 (2009-10)
Average class size	14
Student to teacher ratio	11:1
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Maroon, White
Athletics	intramural gyms, Fitness Center, practice field, and use of university fields, tennis courts and pool
Athletics conference	Catholic High School Athletic Association
Sports	29 teams in 14 sports
Mascot	The Ram
Team name	Rams
Rivals	Iona Prep, Xavier High School
Accreditation	Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Publication	Labyrinth (literary magazine)
Newspaper	Rampart The Objective
Yearbook	Ramkin
Tuition	$13,810 (2009-10)
Dean of Students	Steven Pettus
Admissions Director	Christopher Lauber
Athletic Director	Robert McLaughlin
Website	www.fordhamprep.org

Fordham Preparatory School: Shea-O'Brien Hall and Maloney Hall

Fordham Preparatory School (also known as Fordham Prep) is a private Jesuit all-boys high school located in the Bronx, New York City, with an enrollment of approximately 900+ students. It is located on the campus of Fordham University.

School history

The Fordham Preparatory School, formerly known as St. John's Preparatory School until St. John's College was renamed Fordham University in 1905, was founded by the Diocese of New York in 1841.

Once integrated into the university as the "lower division", Fordham Prep was located in Hughes Hall from 1890 until it moved to its own facilities in 1972, where it has remained to the present day. Located at the northeast corner of the Rose Hill campus, Shea-O'Brien Hall is named after a former prefect of discipline, Fr. Arthur Shea, SJ, and Fr. Eugene O'Brien, SJ, a former president of the school. Maloney Hall, adjacent to Shea-O'Brien Hall, was completed in 1995, and houses the school's Hall of Honor, intramural gym, Fitness Center and Leonard Theatre. The theatre is the venue for the school's Dramatics Society and is used for school assemblies as well as by the university on various occasions. It has hosted the show Hardball with Chris Matthews.

Recently, Fordham Prep has completed its 9.5 million dollar third floor renovation and fourth floor expansion. Opened in September 2009, the fourth floor features three new chemistry and three new biology laboratories, as well as a greenhouse. The third floor was renovated to include six new classrooms and three new physics laboratories. A new band room has also been added.

Academics

Fordham Prep has a liberal arts curriculum which focuses on English studies, history, mathematics, the sciences, ancient and modern languages, and religion. Students are given the option to take Honors or Advanced Placement classes depending on their individual performance. All freshmen students take a classical language: Latin, or Ancient Greek. As they move on to their sophomore year, the students can choose to continue with Latin or Greek, or study a modern foreign language, such as Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, or German. All students are required to take four years of English, four years of Religion, four years or three levels of any language, three years of history, three years of mathematics, and three years of science. Senior students have the choice of taking elective courses, and with prior approval, an undergraduate course at Fordham University. Seniors are also required to plan and implement a senior service project at an approved site. They then reflect on their service and journal their experiences for a senior service essay to be completed at the end of the year.

Service

Juniors and Seniors have to fulfill community service requirements of 15 and 70 hours per year, respectively. If a junior does not finish his 15 hours, his senior service requirement jumps to 100 hours. Some of those hours can be obtained by taking advantage of in-school service opportunities.

Each summer, Fordham Prep sponsors trips called "Christian Service Immersion Trips." The destinations include Habitat for Humanity in Robbins, Tennessee, and Ecuador. A group of seniors and juniors also went to the Gulf Coast Spring Break 2007 to help CityTeam. It was a successful trip and plans are underway for another.

Extracurricular activities

Fordham Prep has many extracurricular activities for students. There are nearly fifty clubs, each pertaining to a specific interest. There are clubs for students who enjoy computers, marine biology, music, politics, etc. There are also the Asian, Irish, Italian and Spanish clubs. The Prep has a successful Speech and Debate Team that represents the school in local and national tournaments. The Dramatics Society put on two shows a year in the Leonard Theatre.

In addition, there are several student-produced publications that are released throughout the year. The school newspaper, Rampart, and the political science magazine, The Objective, are printed on a monthly basis. Labyrinth, the literary arts magazine, is circulated twice a year. The Prep has published a yearbook, Ramkin, since 1929.

Fordham Prep also has a large number of athletic teams. It is a member of the CHSAA. Fordham Prep has its own practice field, track, and weight room for the students to use. In 2005, in concert with Fordham University, the back track and practice field were refurbished with MONDO and true grass respectively, vastly updating and improving the facilities. The track is now named in honor of one of the Prep's track coaches, Joe Fox. Additionally, lights were installed for the University's night time use. Fordham Prep has several competitive teams in soccer, baseball (CHSAA champions 2009), football, ice hockey, basketball, swimming (CHSAA champions 2006-2009 twice undefeated), golf, lacrosse, cross country, track and field, tennis, wrestling, bowling, volleyball, and crew. On March 13, 2009, the 4x55m shuttle hurdle relay team set a new national high school record (29.15 sec.) while winning the National Championship. The team name is the "Fordham Rams."

Notable Fordham alumni

• Robert Abplanalp '30 - inventor of aerosol valve and Founder of Precision Valve Corporation.
• Esteban Bellan 1868 - first Latin American professional baseball player
• J. P. Donleavy- Author
• Arthur Daley '22 - New York Times columnist and 1956 Pulitzer Prize winner, one of only three sportswriters to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for journalism.
• Joseph J. DioGuardi '58 - former Republican Congressman and father of Kara DioGuardi
• Richard Foerster '67 - Award-winning poet
• Pete Fornatale '63 - music culture books author; disk jockey
• Frankie Frisch '16 - Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, also known as "The Fordham Flash," he is third all-time on the list for World Series hits, behind Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle and just ahead of Joe DiMaggio.
• Mario Gabelli '61 - CEO and Founder of Gabelli Asset Management
• Tony Guida '60 - television and radio news broadcaster
• Robert Hackett '77 - silver medalist in swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal
• John Halligan (ice hockey) '59 - former New York Rangers public relations director and NHL executive.
• John L. Lahey '64 - President of Quinnipiac University
• Gerald Lynch '54- Former President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. After 30 years as president, he retired in 2004 as having tenured the longest senior-level administration in City University of New York history.
• Theodore Edgar McCarrick '49 - Archbishop of Washington D.C.
• Horace McKenna, S.J. '16 - Founder of S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat) and advocate of the Sursum Corda Cooperative.
• Joseph Moglia '67 - CEO of Ameritrade Inc.
• Johnny Murphy '25 - former New York Yankees pitcher who appeared in a total of eight World Series games, pitched 16.1 innings, and had an E.R.A. of 1.10.
• Vin Scully '44 - baseball announcer in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Radio Hall of Fame, American Sportscasters Hall of Fame. He has been broadcasting Dodgers games, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles, since 1950.
• Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (did not graduate) - attended for a brief time; Commanding officer of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first all African-American regiment during the American Civil War; portrayed by Matthew Broderick in the 1989 movie Glory
• George Stirnweiss '36 - former second baseman for the New York Yankees who also was the American League batting champion in 1945.
• Donnie Walsh '58 - President of basketball operations for the New York Knicks and former general manager for the Indiana Pacers.
• Malcolm Wilson '29 - Lieutenant Governor and Governor of New York.
• Tim Brosnan 78'- Executive Vice President of Major league Baseball
• Bill Heitmann 66'- Executive Vice President of Verizon

External links

• Official Website
• Fordham Preparatory School at greatschools.net