Santa Fe Preparatory School

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Santa Fe Preparatory School (Santa Fe Prep) is a fully accredited, coeducational day school serving approximately 340 students in grades seven through twelve. Located in the historical capital city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, SF Prep provides a college preparatory curriculum -- focusing on academic excellence and community awareness and service.

Accredited by the Independent School Association of the Southwest (others are Albuquerque Academy, Sandia Preparatory School, Manzano Day School, United World College, and Rio Grande School), Prep is also a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.

1 History
2 Campus
3 Notable Alumni
4 External Links

[edit] History

In February of 1961, a small group of parents and community leaders founded Santa Fe Preparatory School. Their goal was to create a college preparatory school where young people would be challenged, engaged and nurtured. The school opened on historic Canyon Road in 1963 with sixty-three students in seventh through ninth grades.

Enrollment increased dramatically, and in the early 1970s, the school moved to its current site, a thirteen-acre campus nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, adjacent to the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College, U.S.. Since that time, Prep has added a state-of-the-art science wing, upgraded a campus-wide technology system, renovated existing buildings, such as the historic Meem art facility, built a new School Commons in 2001, and completed a LEED-certified library building in 2006 that houses over 11,000 volumes and provides state-of-the-art technology.

[edit] Campus

Prep’s campus is nestled on 13 picturesque acres in Santa Fe’s historic eastside, in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The open atmosphere promoted by the school’s architecture makes the campus an idyllic setting for all forms of learning. Both middle and upper schools feature an outdoor quad where students and faculty gather and where graduation ceremonies are held. The quads offer spectacular views of Santa Fe, the larger community that allows Prep’s inclusive culture to flourish. The historic Meem Art Building, housed in the original home of noted architect John Gaw Meem, includes studios for ceramics, drawing and painting, and photography, feeding the creative energies of Prep students.

The new library, opened in 2006, is one of only a handful of buildings to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status in all of New Mexico. It uses at least 30% less energy than a conventional building, captures all the rainwater running off the roof in two underground cisterns and using it to irrigate, from over 90% of the interior spaces, there is a view of the outside, and the vast majority of materials used in construction were harvested or manufactured within a 500-mile radius and incorporate recycled materials.