Community Update: Promise. Possibility. Potential.

Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…
[to] get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.
Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible.

Abraham Joshua Heschel 

Dear Prep Community,

One week of sauna-like heat notwithstanding, our nearly month-old school year is off to a wonderful start. All curricular and co-curricular activities have begun, and our students have settled into the routines and energy of a new school year. At our opening Convocation, we encouraged students to open their eyes, minds, and hearts to the power of wonder as a source of inspiration and creativity throughout the coming year. Wonder serves as rocket fuel for dreams and aspirations.

Fall Enrollment
We enrolled 271 degree-seeking students at Prep this fall in grades 6 to 12, similar to enrollment for the 2023-24 academic year. Together with our three Austrian students and three Japanese students, who are enrolled at Prep through exchange programs, we enrolled a total of 65 new students. New students represented nearly 24 percent of all Prep students this fall. Fully half of our new students were enrolled in the Middle School.Our student body is among the most geographically diverse in the state. Our students this year hail from 13 different nations, four states, and 28 different communities in Minnesota – bringing an extraordinary diversity of culture and experience to the school. International and domestic boarding students represent nearly 30% of Upper School enrollment this fall. We continue to plan for enrollment growth, ultimately seeking a target of 300+ students in grades 6 to 12, a total that will allow us to broaden curricular choices and expand co-curricular activities.

Fall 2024 represents second year of the new Aspire to Excellence (A2E) Curriculum. In total, 112 students in grades 9 to 12 enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement or Honors course this fall. Nearly all seniors enrolled in at least one AP or Honors course, with the largest percentage enrolling in at least three. Thirty-five 9^th grade and 10^th grade students also enrolled in at least one AP or Honors course, compared to none a year ago. In addition, 19 Prep students – representing 20% of all juniors and seniors – enrolled in collegiate courses at Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict this fall. Our students’ commitment to their education and aspiration is extraordinary. 

Moving Prep Forward: Our Time is Now
Last April, we formally launched the first phase of the Prep Forward: Our Time is Now Campaign. Co-chaired by Prep parents Marissa and Bob Mahowald and Lexy and Tom St. Hilaire, the Our Time is Now campaign seeks to secure a minimum of $10 million in cash, pledges, and planned gifts to support three critical priorities for the school:

Endow tuition assistance to eliminate price as a barrier to enrollment.
Modernize and renew campus facilities to reflect the demands of a contemporary education and our commitment to learning excellence.
Fund teaching excellence to attract, retain, and reward extraordinary faculty. Faculty, facilities, and financial aid together form a foundation on which we can and will build continuously for years to come.

We are very excited to report that, to date, Prep has received campaign commitments totaling more than $6.4 million. We are grateful to have experienced so much success so quickly and optimistic that we will reach or surpass our $10 million goal.

This is an exciting moment for Saint John’s Prep, one that reflects our resolute commitment to providing our students with exceptional and distinctive learning experiences. We will share more about the continuing progress of the campaign over the coming months.

Campus Changes Afoot
Exciting changes are underway (some already completed) on the Prep campus! Under the tutelage of the Avon Hills Folk School, we completed the outdoor classroom (located near the garden above our playing fields) in August. It is a beautiful pine-timber structure and is already in use by several classes. We encourage you to see it when you visit campus this fall.

We have begun to put campaign-raised dollars immediately to work, funding a lively refresh of our Main Office, new carpet and furniture in classrooms on the third floor, and (later this winter and spring) a new floor in the Weber Center and badly needed circulation fans in both the band room and the choir room. In addition, this fall we will construct a new state-of-the art weight room in our gym and open a small mini-mart across from the snack bar. Each of these projects was made possible by the extraordinary generosity of donors. We thank them for their support and confidence. Many more projects await as we seek to improve both classrooms and common spaces on campus.

Promise. Possibility. Potential. Those words describe not just the optimism of a new year but also Prep students and the Prep experience. We are deeply grateful for your continued support of Saint John’s Prep and we look forward to a year filled with wonder!

With Gratitude,

Jon McGee
Head of School

Christine Glomski
Principal & Assistant Head of School