Cistercian Preparatory School

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Cistercian Prep School

Headmaster	Fr. Peter Verhalen, O. Cist. '73
Established	1962
School type	Private, Day
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic
Location	Irving, TX, USA
Enrollment	354 boys
Faculty	43
Campus	80 acres
Mascot	Hawk
Colors	Black, white
Athletics	8 sports
Motto	Ardere et Lucere

Cistercian Preparatory School is a Roman Catholic school for boys located in Irving, Texas. Serving grades five through twelve (though previously having a 4th grade pre-form), the school has a population of about 350 boys. Each grade is assigned a priest or a dedicated teacher as a "Form Master," who follows the class over the years and is responsible for building a feeling of community.

The school's roots lie with a group of Cistercians who came to Texas in 1956 to help found the University of Dallas, located adjacent to what would become the Cistercian campus. Later that year, an uprising in communist Hungary allowed a group from Zirc Abbey in western Hungary to escape, and they joined their colleagues in Texas. The monks of Zirc had a long tradition of teaching in the abbey's college preparatory schools, so in 1962 they started Cistercian Preparatory School to continue their work in secondary education.

1 Student body
2 Curriculum
3 Athletics
4 Notable alumni
5 External links

[edit] Student body

Cistercian students undertake a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum before attending some of the finest colleges and universities in the country. Recent graduates have enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, Duke University, Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University, Rice University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Pomona College, Carleton College, Davidson College,Washington & Lee University, the United States Military Academy at West Point, the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and others.

Students also tend to score very well on standardized tests. Over the last ten years (Classes 1998-2007), 59% of all students have been recognized as either National Merit Semifinalists or Commended students for their performance on the PSAT/NMSQT. For Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) taken their senior year, the Class of 2005 had an average score of 1434, following a trend had the seniors scoring an average of between 1346 and 1428 on the national test since 1996. The Class of 2006 had an average score of 1434, which does not include the writing average from the revised and expanded SAT. When added, the 2006 class average is 2152.

[edit] Curriculum

All Cistercian students follow a rigid per-week schedule of eight-period days. In the Middle School, the classes required include Latin, Religion, English, English Lab, Computer, Art, Health, Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science (2 years), American History (2 years), World History, and Texas History. In the Upper School, the classes required include English (4 years), Moral Theology, Systematic Theology, Church History, American History, World History (2 years), Government, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. In addition, an Upper School student must choose either Spanish or French for four years (though given a teacher and a petition with 10 signatures, any other language may be taken), either Physics II, Chemistry II, or Biology II for senior year, and one elective every semester (though in special cases it is allowed for a student to replace or shorten his lunch period in order to take more than one elective class).

[edit] Athletics

Students are encouraged to participate in sports in every season. Cistercian fields teams in eight varsity sports in three athletic seasons: football and cross country (fall); basketball, soccer, and swimming (winter); baseball, track & field, and tennis (spring). The school is a member of the Southwest Preparatory Conference, which hosts championship tournaments and meets at the end of every season.

School-sponsored sports are available to both Upper and Middle School students, beginning in the Third Form (7th grade). Students in Forms I and II, and those not wishing to participate in organized sports or wanting to take advantage of the study hall given by only one athletics period, take a physical education class while their classmates are participating in athletics practices.

The school's mascot is the Hawk. Its colors are black and white.