Saint John's Preparatory School (SJP) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

co-educational, day and boarding college preparatory school located in

Collegeville, Minnesota Collegeville is an unincorporated community in St. Wendel Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitob ...

. Founded in 1857, it is located in the

Diocese of Saint Cloud The Diocese of Saint Cloud () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in central Minnesota in the United States. It is a suffragan see, suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The mother church o ...

and is administered by the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monks of Saint John's Abbey. The school includes a middle school consisting of grades 6–8 and an upper school consisting of grades 9–12. The student body consists of students from the local area along with 5- and 7-day boarding students from across the United States and around the world. In the 2018–19 academic year, the student body included students from 24 different cities and towns in Minnesota, 4 states and 13 different countries.

Background

Saint John's Preparatory School was established in 1857 by the monks of Saint John's Abbey, a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

located in Collegeville, MN. SJP is the oldest secondary school in Minnesota. It was all-male until 1972 when the nearby all-girls school, St. Benedict's Academy owned and operated by the Sisters of St. Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, MN closed. The college sections of both schools are still in operation and run as partnered liberal arts institutions. Today the school has an almost equal number of boys and girls. In 2011, 75% of the students at SJP were from the St. Cloud, Minnesota area, with the remaining 25% coming from out of state and worldwide. The 2013-2014 student body has representation from 17 countries. The Middle School opened in 1997, with 21 7th and 8th-grade students in a combined classroom setting. Since then the Middle School has nearly tripled in size and with high interest from area families, SJP added a 6th-grade program in 2009. Saint John's Prep has been named an International Baccalaureate World School and has been approved to offer the

IB Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

starting Fall 2011 with the first class graduating with the IB Diploma in 2013. The current Head of School is Jon McGee, succeeding the long-time headmaster, Father Jonathan Lizardi, O.S.B.

Academics

Saint John's Prep is a college preparatory school with studies in the fine arts, language arts, and sciences. Listed among the top 20 boarding schools (out of 307 schools) for: Student Test Scores - High average SAT scores.

College classes

Saint John's Prep shares its campus with Saint John's University, a small, liberal arts university, which is affiliated with the nearby

College of Saint Benedict The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are two closely related Private college, private, Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Minnesota. The College of Sai ...

. Each semester, 10-20 students take at least one college class at SJU or CSB.

Exchange programs

Saint John's Prep offers a year-long study abroad opportunity with the Benedictine Gymnasium in Melk, Austria.

Athletic facilities

Prep uses several athletic facilities on the SJU campus, including

Clemens Stadium Clemens Stadium is a football stadium located in Collegeville, Minnesota. The stadium serves as the host stadium to Saint John's University football, track and field teams and other intramural activities. Saint John's Preparatory School's footb ...

the current home of the Track and Field team, with a 400m track and a separate location for shot-put and discus. The Natural Bowl is also the former home of the Football team. (Football has recently been co-oped with St. Cloud

Technical Senior School Technical High School is a public high school in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, United States. It is one of St. Cloud Area School District's two major public high schools; the other is Apollo. The school's first building was built in 1917 at 233 12th ...

Notable alumni

Mathew Ahmann Mathew H. Ahmann (September 10, 1931 – December 31, 2001) was an American Catholic layman and civil rights activist. He was a leader of the Catholic Church's involvement in the civil rights movement, and in 1960 founded and became the execu ...

civil rights activist *

David Durenberger David Ferdinand Durenberger (August 19, 1934 – January 31, 2023) was an American politician and attorney from Minnesota who served as a Republican member of the United States Senate from 1978 to 1995. He left the Republican Party in 2005 and ...

American politician and former Republican member of the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Eugene McCarthy Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...

American politician, poet, and longtime member of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

* George Sinner former governor of North Dakota and Vice President of American Crystal Sugar * Peter Strzok former FBI agent

External links

School Website

Saint John's University Archives Presentation on Life at the Prep School
created by the University Archivist, Peggy Roske, 2011.
Saint John's University Archives Presentation on the First Headmasters of the Prep School
created by the University Archivist, Peggy Roske, 2012. * http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_overview.php

Notes and references

{{authority control Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud Catholic secondary schools in Minnesota Schools in Stearns County, Minnesota Educational institutions established in 1857 Private middle schools in Minnesota International Baccalaureate schools in Minnesota Benedictine secondary schools Boarding schools in Minnesota Catholic boarding schools in the United States 1857 establishments in Minnesota Territory