Villanova Preparatory School
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| Villanova Preparatory School |
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| Established | 1924 |
| Type | Roman Catholic, Augustinian, Private secondary |
| Students | 325 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | Ojai, California USA |
| Oversight | Order of St. Augustine |
| Mascot | Wildcats |
| Yearbook | The Villanovan |
| Newspaper | The New View |
| Website | [1] |
Villanova Preparatory School is an Augustinian Catholic co-ed boarding school located in the small town of Ojai, California, USA. It was founded by Augustinian friars in 1924 and is the only co-ed Augustian boarding school in the country. In 2004 enrollment was 290 with some 35 faculty members. The admission is extremely competitive. Some one-third of students are boarders, and represent 10 different countries. The students are generally from South Korea and Taiwan with a few coming from Vietnam, Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and the United States.
The curriculum includes four units of religion: Old Testament, New Testament, Morality and Social Justice, and Christian Vocations. Math, English, and Science courses are required for all four years in order to graduate. Three languages are offered: Spanish, Japanese and Latin. Virgil is studied in the Latin Advanced Placement course. The school also offers Advanced Placement courses in other subjects, such as Calculus, English Composition, English Literature, and US History. Many students have also taken AP exams in subjects not taught at the AP level at school (such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics B/C, and Comparative Politics).
Graduates of Villanova often get accepted into highly prestigious universities such as Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, Harvard, MIT, and Caltech, or highly selective liberal art colleges (e.g. Amherst, Scripps College, Kalamazoo College).
The faculty consists mostly of laypersons, with only one member of the clergy on the teaching staff. While the school is generally well-regarded for its English program, other areas, especially the Mathematics and Sciences have undergone high turnover.
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[edit] Patron Saint
The school is named in honour of St. Thomas of Villanova, a sixteenth century Spanish Augustinian. Thomas was born at Fuenllana in the diocese of Toledo, Spain, in 1488 and was brought up in Villaneuva de los Infantes, a nearby town; hence his name, Thomas of Villanova. In the year 1544, King Charles V of Spain appointed Thomas as Archbishop of Valencia. Thomas succeeded in the spiritual renewal of his diocese, and gained the title 'Father of the Poor'. He gave two-thirds of the income of his diocese to care for the poor in various ways. Each day up to 500 poor people came to his door to be fed and to receive money. Other English speaking Augustinian Colleges named for this saint are St. Thomas of Villanova College in Ontario, Canada, and Villanova College, located in Brisbane, Australia. He is also the patron saint to the popular Catholic college, Villanova University located in Villanova, PA,USA.
[edit] The Augustinian Order in North America
The North American foundation of the order happened in 1796 when Irish friars arrived in Philadelphia. Michael Hurley was the first American to join the Order the following year. Friars established schools, Universities and other works throughout the Americas, also including Villanova University in Villanova, PA located just outside of Philadelphia (USA) and Merrimack College (USA). Malvern Preparatory School was founded in 1842 alongside Villanova University, and by 1909 two Augustinian houses and a school had been established in Chicago, 1922 in San Diego, by 1925 this school; and Los Angeles; 1926 a school in Oklahoma; in 1947 a college in Massachusetts; in 1953 a school in Pennsylvania; 1959 a school in New Jersey and in 1962 a school in Illinois.
[edit] Athletics
Last year, the girls' tennis team was the runner-up in the Division 4 CIF final. This year they have faced the dilemma of filling up the spot of one of their singles players, but are consistently improving. This level of improvement can be attributed to standout players such as singles/doubles sophomore players Katrina Pierson and Kelsey Jonker; junior singles' player Lexi White; the doubles' team of seniors Alexandra Gibbs and Ariana Lujan; and the doubles team of Sophia Miles and Niamh Daly.
This year's boys' football team is led by senior runningbacks Alex Stelzer and Ryan Whalen, along with senior linebacker Shane Strom. However, it will be hard to match the previous year's football team, which was 11-1.
The boys' varsity basketball team is looking forward to a strong season with new Head Coach Matt Murphy. He has a strong team behind him, with 6ft 7in center Dane McFadden, post player Alex Stelzer, freshman sharp shooter Lucas Weival, sophomore Wyatt Oroke, and junior Breanden Beaghler
The baseball team is hoping for a fresh start with a new coach.
All of the Villanova athletic teams recently joined a new league. They are looking forward to strong seasons playing against teams such as Malibu, Fillmore, Ventura, and St. Bonaventure.
[edit] Controversies
- In 1998 James Woodstock, a 31-year-old religion and morality teacher was convicted of statutory rape after impregnating a 16-year-old student. At the time, he was newly married to a 21-year-old woman who was also pregnant.
- In early 2006 it was discovered that the headmaster had hired a Latin teacher Shannon McCreery who had been convicted of second degree murder for assisting in his father's suicide in 1996. Though the headmaster was aware of the conviction, he did not disclose this information to the school's board of directors nor the rest of the staff. [2] Fallout from the incident has included McCreery being placed on leave and the circling of petitions seeking to oust the headmaster. A student petition, however, was circled in support of the headmaster, which was signed by 95% of the students present.
[edit] External links
- Villanova Preparatory School
- Order of St Augustine, International Homepage
- Augnet International Cooperative Web Site for Schools in the Tradition of St. Augustine
