St. Augustine College Preparatory School

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St. Augustine College Preparatory School
Established	1959
Type	Roman Catholic, Augustinian, Private secondary
Students	550
Grades	9–12
Location	Richland, NJ, USA
Athletics	17 Varsity Teams
Mascot	Hermit
Website	http://www.ehermits.net/flash.asp

For other schools/colleges of the same name, see St. Augustine's (disambiguation)

St. Augustine College Preparatory School 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 550 students in ninth through twelfth grade. 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.

The school's 2005 graduating class had an average SAT score of 1218, and was offered $13 million in scholarships (accepted $4.8 million of the offers).

1 History
2 Patron Saint
3 Athletics
4 Notable alumni
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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, consisting of four classrooms and a gymnasium, opened in 1960. The first expansion included the western wing of the main building in 1967-68. A new gym 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 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 increase enrollment to 600 by 2006.

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.

[edit] 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. Augustine was a key figure in the doctrinal development of Western Christianity and is often referred to as a "Doctor of the Church" by Roman Catholics. Two of his surviving works, namely "The Confessions" (his autobiography) and "The City of God", are regarded as Western Classics and are still read by Christians around the world. Augustine is often considered to be one of the theological fountainheads of Reformation, because of his teaching on salvation and grace; Martin Luther himself also having been an Augustinian friar. Augustine was not a Biblical fundamentalist.

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 North American foundation of the order dates back to 1796.

[edit] Athletics

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, and sailing. St. Augustine teams have recently competed in state championships in tennis, basketball, golf, swimming, soccer, wrestling, and crew. The swimming team has been dominant in South Jersey, has been in the top 5 swim teams in New Jersey, and in 04-05, was the 4th-ranked swim team in the nation.

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.^[1]^[2] 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^[3], becoming the first ice hockey team in New Jersey history to go undefeated.

[edit] Notable alumni

Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Former Hermit Basketball player, currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA.

[edit] References

^ Race #105, Boy's Lightweight Eight, Stotesbury Cup 2006, May 20, 2006
^ 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."
^ 2007 Ice Hockey Tournament - Non-Public, NJSIAA, accessed March 24, 2007