St. Augustine College Preparatory School

Infobox School
logo =
motto = Veritas Unitas Caritas
(Truth, Unity, Love)
name = St. Augustine College Preparatory School
type = Roman Catholic, Augustinian, Private secondary
established = 1959
address = 611 Cedar Avenue
city = Richland
state = NJ
zipcode = 08350
country = USA
community = suburban/rural
oversight =
grades = 9–12
enrollment = 547 (as of 2005-06)
faculty = 38.0 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 14.4
nickname = Hermits
conference = Cape-Atlantic League
colors = Blue and White
newspaper =
yearbook =
information = 856-697-2600
website = [http://www.ehermits.net/ School website] :"This article discusses the school in Richland, New Jersey. For other institution of the same name, see St. Augustine's (disambiguation)"

St. Augustine College Preparatory School (locally, "St. Augustine [Prep] ", "St. Augustine's", and "The Prep") is an all-male Roman Catholic four-year high school located in the Richland section of Buena Vista Township, New Jersey, United States. It has approximately 650 students in ninth through twelfth grade. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden, the school was founded in 1959 by the Augustinian Order as a minor seminary to help young men prepare for studies in the priesthood and religious life. The first class was a mixture of seminarians and day students.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 547 students and 38.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 14.4. [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00864402&ID=00864402 St. Augustine College Preparatory School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed August 27, 2008.]

The school's graduating Class of 2007 had an average SAT score of 1726, and was offered $14 million in scholarships (accepted $4.8 million of the offers).

History

The school's first graduating class was in 1963, and its first Headmaster was Fr. Peter Toscani, OSA. There were 12 students in that class. The first school building, Augustinian Hall, consisted of four classrooms and a gymnasium, which opened in 1960. The first expansion included the western wing of Augustinian Hall in 1967-68. The Spina Gymnasium was constructed in 1979-80 and the former gym was converted into classrooms and a chapel. The enrollment ranged between 150 to 210 students for many years.

The third expansion of facilities was the construction of the Edith Scarpa Arts and Sciences Building in 1998. Following that expansion, enrollment has grown from 235 to 550. A minor renovation which replaced the chapel with additional classrooms took place in 2000. A building project is underway that will allow enrollment to increase to well over 600. "The Forum", as it is called, is scheduled to open December 10, 2007. Various problems with wiring and electronics twice pushed back the originally planned opening on November 20, 2007. The dedication of the building, called the "Cornerstone Ceremony" has occurred on November 28, 2007.

The school attracts students from all over the South Jersey area and has become competitive in its admissions process.

The school is affiliated with the Augustinian institution Villanova University.

Patron saint

The school is named in honor of the 4th century saint, St. Augustine of Hippo, one of a few Augustinian schools in the United States and others throughout the world with this same patron saint. Other English speaking Augustinian Schools with the same patron include one in San Diego and another in Reading (Massachusetts) ; Colegio San Agustin, Biñan and Colegio San Agustin, Makati in the Philippines; a school in Malta, Irish schools in Dungarvan and New Ross; and one in Sydney, Australia. The dates back to 1796.

Athletics

The Saint Augustine Prep Hermits compete in the National Division of the Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference consisting of both parochial and public high schools located in Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, and Gloucester County, New Jersey. However, The Hermits compete in the American Conference of The Cape-Atlantic League in Soccer, Basketball, and Baseball, starting with the 2008-2009 school year. The Cape-Atlantic League operates under the aegis of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The school offers seventeen inter-scholastic sports programs, including football, soccer, cross country, basketball, swimming, ice hockey, wrestling, chess, baseball, golf, tennis, crew, lacrosse, volleyball, fencing, bowling, sailing, and a new sport for the 2008-09 year, water polo. St. Augustine teams have recently competed in state championships in hockey, tennis, basketball, golf, swimming, soccer, wrestling, and crew.The swim team has been dominant in South Jersey, has been in the top five swim teams in New Jersey, and in 04-05, was the 4th-ranked swim team in the nation. They won the 06-07 Non-Public A State Title with a 105-65 win against St. Joseph High School, as well as the 07-08 Non-Public A State Title with a 109-61 victory over Seton Hall Preparatory School. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=201886&tclass=Non-Public%20-%20A 2007 Boys Team Swimming - Non-Public - A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.]

The crew team's Lightweight 8+ won both the Stotesbury Cup Regatta and the Scholastic Rowing Association of America Regatta (commonly referred to as the "Scholastic Nationals") in the 2006 spring season. [ [http://www.boathouserow.org/rega06/result_20060520.htm Race #105, Boy's Lightweight Eight] , Stotesbury Cup 2006, May 20, 2006.] [ [http://www.drexeldragons.com/News/mcrew/2006/12/1/MCrew%20Recruit.asp?path=mcrew Drexel Crew Signs Coxswain for 2007-08 Season] , Drexel University, accessed April 7, 2007. "Matyas, a stand-out coxswain at St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland, N.J., guided the lightweight varsity eight to gold medal performances at the New Jersey State Championships, the Philadelphia City Championships, the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, and the High School Scholastic Nationals."] This is the first national title achieved by St. Augustine Prep.

The Ice Hockey team claimed the 2006-07 Non-Public State Title, defeating St. Peter's Preparatory School 3-1 on March 23, 2007 [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=205263&tclass=Non%2DPublic 2007 Ice Hockey Tournament - Non-Public] , NJSIAA, accessed March 24, 2007.] , becoming the first ice hockey team in New Jersey history to go undefeated and untied, as well as becoming the first South Jersey school to win the state title in hockey. In the 07-08 season, the team reached the state finals, but lost to Delbarton 5-1.

The soccer team won the 2003 Boys Soccer - South Parochial A with a 2-0 win over Paul VI High School in the sectional final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=49669&tclass=South%20Parochial%20A 2003 Boys Soccer - South Parochial A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The team was declared State Champion in the 2003 NJSIAA Parochial A Boys' Soccer State Tournament jointly with Delbarton School. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=50550&tclass= 2003 NJSIAA Parochial A Boys' Soccer State Tournament] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The team was the Group A Champion in the 2005 Boys Soccer Non-Public Finals, defeating Seton Hall Preparatory School 4-1. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=127444&tclass=Non-Public%20Finals 2005 Boys Soccer - Non-Public Finals] , NJSIAA, accessed June 11, 2007.]

The basketball team won the 2001 Parochial South B state championship, defeating McCorristin Catholic High School by 65-49 in the tournament final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/scripts-bracketmaker/tmenu.cfm?tid=3354&tclass=Parochial%20South%20B 2001 - Parochial South B] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The basketball team won the 2002 Parochial South A, defeating Camden Catholic High School 50-45. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=12868&tclass=Parochial%20South%20A 2002 Boys Basketball - Parochial South A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The team won again in 2004 with a 56-48 win over Camden Catholic High School. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=56918&tclass=Parochial%20South%20A 2004 Boys Basketball - Parochial South A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The 2005 team lost to Christian Brothers Academy 49-43 in the final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=93752&tclass=Non-Public,%20South%20A 2005 Boys Basketball - Non-Public, South A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.]

The tennis team won the Non-Public, South A title in 2003 over Monsignor Donovan High School 4-1. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=37372&tclass=Parochial%20South%20A 2003 Boys Team Tennis - Parochial South A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The team won the Non-Public, South A title again in 2005 and 2006, defeating Christian Brothers Academy 5-0 and 4-1, respectively. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=106049&tclass=Non-Public%2C%20South%20A 2005 Boys Team Tennis - Non-Public, South A] , NJSIAA, accessed May 11, 2007.] The 2007 team won the Boys Tennis - Non-Public, South A state sectional championship with a pair of 5-0 wins over St. John Vianney High School in the semifinals and Christian Brothers Academy in the tournament final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=216953&tclass=Non-Public%2C%20South%20A 2007 Boys Tennis - Non-Public, South A] , NJSIAA. Accessed July 22, 2007.] On May 24, 2007, the tennis team won the 2007 Non-Public A State title in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Delbarton. This was the Prep's first state title in tennis and the team finished the year 10th on "The Star-Ledger"'s top 20 list. Previously the tennis team had won numerous Non-Public, South A titles.

Notable alumni

*Mike Catalana, Sports Director of WHAM-TV in Rochester, New York.
*Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Class of 2002. Played for the Dallas Mavericks and currently plays for Benetton Treviso. [ [http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/mavs_sign_bonsu080306.html "Mavs Sign Pops Mensah-Bonsu"] , Dallas Mavericks press release dated August 3, 2006. "A native of London, England, Mensah-Bonsu attended high school at St. Augustine Prep in Richland, NJ. "]
*Paul Rodio, Class of 1974. Currently the Hermits head basketball coach. Has amassed 665 career wins ranking him second in South Jersey history.Fact|date=February 2008
*Andrew Sullivan (basketball) , Professional basketball player for Dexia Mons-Hainaut in Belgium.

References

External links

* [http://www.ehermits.net/flash.asp St Augustine College Preparatory Official site]
* [http://www.osanet.org Order of St Augustine, International Homepage]
* [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00864402&ID=00864402 National Center for Education Statistics data for St. Augustine College Preparatory School]
* [http://www.sjsports.com/highschool/saintaugustine/ South Jersey Sports: St. Augustine HS]
* [http://www.augnet.org/ Augnet] - International Cooperative Web Site for Schools in the Tradition of St. Augustine