St. Mary's Preparatory

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St. Mary's Preparatory is a Catholic four-year all-boys college preparatory school founded in 1885 and located in the city of Orchard Lake Village, in Michigan in the USA.

St. Mary's Preparatory
File:Stmarysprepmi.jpg
The campus of St. Mary's Preparatory
Headmaster James Glowacki (2004)
School type Private
Religious affiliation Catholic
Founded 1885
Location Orchard Lake Village, Michigan
Enrollment 460 (as of 2004)
Faculty 10:1 student faculty ratio
Campus surroundings Suburban/Rural
Mascot Eaglet
School color(s) Red and White
Website http://www.stmarysprep.com
The main school building of St. Mary's Preparatory.

History

St. Mary's was founded in 1885 on the Detroit's east side by Rev. Joseph Dabrowski as a school for Polish-American boys to train for the priesthood. The school moved to the 125 acre (0.5 km²) campus of the former Michigan Military Academy on the shores of Orchard Lake in 1909 and is still there today. St. Mary's now offers a college preparatory education. The campus is shared with SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary and contains some offices and classrooms for Madonna University of Livonia, Michigan, offering prep students the chance to take some college-level courses before graduating. The Felician Sisters from Livonia, Michigan have served the Orchard Lake Schools since 1935. When Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła, who would become Pope John Paul II, visited the campus in 1969, he remarked, "If the Orchard Lake schools did not exist, it would be necessary to create them."

Mission Statement

St. Mary's Preparatory is a Catholic, all-boys, college preparatory high school with a Polish-American heritage and legacy. Our mission is to provide deserving young men the moral guidance, discipline, and education necessary to become Christian gentlemen, scholars, and men of service and leadership for the world. By completion of our spiritual and educational model, these men can gain the fortitude, reverence, character, and preparation to meet all challenges for the greater glory of God and their alma mater.

Academics

St. Mary’s academic program is designed to meet the basic entrance requirements for any college curriculum. Along with required courses, students, parents, and the Academic Dean work together to determine an appropriate elective schedule. St. Mary’s encourages students to create a program that addresses their individual interests and needs. Requirements for graduation are: four years of theology and English; three years of mathematics, science and social studies; two years of foreign language; and a semester each of computer programming, computer applications, physical education, health, fine arts, and speech. Students are required to fulfill 28 credits for graduation, and young men who transfer to St. Mary’s from another school will meet with the Academic Dean to determine which grades will transfer and which requirements need to be completed.

Although students need not be Catholic to attend St. Mary’s, all students are educated in the Catholic tradition. This tradition includes four years of theology in the classroom as well as attendance at Mass twice weekly. Students are also required to perform community service as determined by the theology department. Additional opportunities, such as class retreats, are available for students, and the School Chaplain and many campus priests are happy to guide students regarding their individual programs.

100 percent of St. Mary’s graduates who apply to college are accepted. A full-time guidance counselor assists students in selecting colleges and universities. Recent graduates have attended colleges across the United States and in several countries, including Albion, Brown, Columbia, Holy Cross, Standford, Purdue, Loyola of Chicago, Michigan State, Notre Dame, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Yale and the Universities of Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.


St. Mary’s Preparatory is fully accredited and licensed by the State of Michigan’s Department of Education, the Michigan Non-Public Schools Accrediting Association (MNSAA), and is a member of the Orchard Lake Schools, the Archdiocese of Detroit, the Detroit Catholic League, the Oakland Schools Consortium, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

Campus and student life

Campus buildings include a newly built 1,300 seat hockey arena and 50,000 volume library, a three-story residence hall, two gymnasiums, a science center, administration buildings, a dining hall and the prominent Shrine Chapel. St. Mary's offers 11 varsity sports, including football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, golf, wrestling, rowing, hockey, lacrosse, and skiing. The Eaglets have won many league, distict, and regional titles in its history. It owns a total of 28 Michigan State Championships to its name. In 1998, the school's rowing team gained prominence for placing second in the Henley Royal Regatta. St. Mary's holds the largest high school fair in the country every year for fund-raising. Parents and students must participate as volunteers.

Notable alumni

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