Saint Peter's Preparatory School

The great tradition of Jesuit education goes back over 400 years when the Jesuits, an order of Catholic priests and brothers founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola, opened their first school in Messina, Sicily. Ever since, students have been learning and growing in ways that have literally helped them to change the world. In 1872, Saint Peter’s Prep opened, offering those same opportunities to young men from throughout the region.

Every day, students and teachers are challenged both inside and outside of the classroom to seek God in all things. It is difficult to sum up in a few sentences all of the good things happening here at Prep. Even just a quick glance at the website will give you a good sense of how diverse our student body is and the myriad academic, athletic and co-curricular programs they enliven and succeed in every year. In addition, our Campus Ministry programs allow all of our students to grow in faith and commitment to God.

Over the decades, Prep has changed and so has our historic Paulus Hook neighborhood, as any alumnus who has not visited for even a few years will tell you. Yet what remains is the commitment of the faculty to continue the mission of Ignatius and the early Jesuits of academic excellence in the context of faith and service to others.

The truth is, you must do some investigating and then make that comparison yourself. Every student is different and so only you can tell if a school is the right fit. You may hope to be challenged academically or you may need some extra help with your courses. You may be interested in one particular club or you may just want a wide variety from which to choose. You may love a certain sport or you may want to play several during the year.

The Jesuit network of schools embraces over sixty countries and, while most of our activity is centered at Grand and Warren Streets in the heart of Jersey City, we strive to expand our students’ horizon to embrace the whole world as St Ignatius wanted us to do.

As part of a Jesuit, Catholic, college preparatory school, the Guidance & College Counseling department concerns itself with the individual care and development of our students. The major goals of the department are academic and personal counseling. We seek to assist students in making decisions that affect their education and to implement programs that will enable them to reach their full potential. Counselors offer academic counseling that deals with the student’s practical needs: study skills, student/teacher relationships, course selection, peer relationships, career information, testing, and college selection. The goals are achieved through individual meetings and a comprehensive group guidance curriculum across four years.

Prep’s guidance program is an integral part of the overall educational program. Like an academic course, group guidance is a scheduled class that every student takes throughout his four years. Students meet with their counselor once every cycle. At every grade level, the curriculum is structured, developmental and flexible, enabling the counselors to effectively address the students’ various needs.

Our office interacts with students in countless other ways between those two important chapters. We organize co-curricular activities and student programming, advocate on behalf of students, oversee various student services including the nurse’s office and transportation issues, and are responsible for ensuring the good behavior of students. Our goal, in concert with the school’s faculty and staff, is to help students reflect on who they are and assist them in charting a course toward who they want to be.

We work to be student-centered; that is, to be available to our students and their parents as mentors and guides. We hope to animate an environment where students can be themselves and achieve their potential in a way that is true to our Jesuit ideals.