SAINT LOUIS PRIORY SCHOOL

'The Saint Louis Priory School', a Roman Catholic secondary day school for boys, is located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school was established in 1955, at the invitation of prominent St. Louis Catholics, by monks of the Benedictine Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire, England. The corresponding Priory of Saints Louis and Mary (now Saint Louis Abbey), a Benedictine monastery, was established at the same time. The Priory, which is a member of the English Benedictine Congregation, became independent of Ampleforth in 1973, and was elevated to an Abbey in 1989.
The founding Prior (1955-1967) was the noted author, monastic leader and former titular Abbot of Westminster Reverend Columba Cary-Elwes.
Enrolling over 300 boys in grades seven through twelve, the Priory School offers a rigorous education shaped by the ancient Benedictine tradition's Christian humanism, with particular attention to Roman Catholic theology, classical and modern foreign languages, English and American literature, mathematics and the natural sciences, history, computer science, and the fine arts. Its graduates attend highly competitive colleges throughout the United States and Canada.
The school emphasizes prayer and monastic life on a daily basis. Two days of the week, usually Monday and Wednesday, the boys attend a prayer assembly led by the student liturgy leader who picks the hymn to be sung based on the time in the Church year. A Gospel read by either the prior of the monastery or by the headmaster follows the hymn, with a short period of reflection after. On Wednesdays, a psalm is read in addition to the Gospel reading. Every Friday, unless otherwise noted, the boys attend all-school mass.
The school has several distinctive features not found at many other high schools. Students must complete a research thesis, a work of creative writing, or a project in the visual or performing arts, as well as participate in community service, to graduate. The school is renowned for its contributions to the ancient art of calligraphy, and students may, after applying, join a guild and attain the title of "Master Calligrapher." Students also can undertake projects in the pre-Medieval art of stained glass.
The founding headmaster was scholar and author Rev. Timothy Horner, O.S.B. He was succeeded by Rev. Paul Kidner, O.S.B., who arrived shortly after the founding. He was in turn succeeded by Rev. Finbarr Dowling, O.S.B. Before being elected to serve as Abbot of the Saint Louis Abbey, former Rhodes Scholar and university professor, Fr. Thomas Frerking, O.S.B. guided the school in the mid 1990s.
Rev. Gregory Mohrman, O.S.B., Class of 1976, the first alumnus to join the monastery, became headmaster in 1995, and held the position for ten years. He was replaced by Rev. Michael Brunner, O.S.B., the school's former assistant headmaster. The Rev. Gregory is now the Prior of the monastery.

Contents

Dress Code

Sports and Mascot

The Abbey Church

Mock Trial

Literary Highlight

Notable alumni

Sports Titles

All-American Athletes/Athletes on Division I NCAA Scholarship

Current Student Council Officers

External links

Dress Code

The school's dress code is fairly casual. The boys are asked to wear long pants with a belt, and a collared shirt; the outfit must match reasonably. Jeans are not allowed. For a short time, the boys were allowed to wear tennis shoes, but in 2006, the school changed its policies again, now allowing the once disallowed "Birkenstock clogs". On days of all-school mass and guest speaker days, the students are required to wear a coat and tie. Most of them wear a blue blazer and khaki pants, with a white or blue oxford (cloth) button-down. Some students choose to wear two-piece suits, which are acceptable. On these formal days, cargo pants are extremely discouraged, and only black or brown tie-up shoes are allowed. Some students and faculty choose to wear the formal dress code every day, which is perfectly acceptable.
Fr. Michael expressed in an All-School Assembly his reasons for the dress code. He stated that if the dress code were changed to be formal every day, the students would not be relaxed, and the rest of the school would be tense, creating a difficult environment to work in. He also said that if the dress code was too casual, the students would be too relaxed, also creating a difficult environment to work in.

Sports and Mascot

The school's sports mascot is the Rebels. "The Rebels" comes from the name of the school's first athletic team, The Rebel Ruggers. A version of the Confederate Johnny Rebel figure was featured in the school's sports iconography, and a Confederate flag was flown outside the school for a short time, until it was taken down due to controversy surrounding the symbolic meaning of the flag. (During the U. S. Civil War, Missouri had a pro-Union government, Saint Louis was a predominantly Union city, and most Roman Catholics in Missouri during the Civil War were pro-Union.) The jersey colors are red, white, and blue. The varsity tennis team, coached by Fr. Ralph Wright, O.S.B. since 1971, is called "The Kestrels", but the official name of the team is still the Rebels. In late 2006, it was rumoured that the mascot was going to be changed to either "The Ravens" or "The Kestrels", due to more adversity to the name "Rebels". There is also speculation that the change will occur after the Class of 2008 graduates. Current student council President Daniel J. Sullivan is working to change the mascot to a rebel of the American Revolution, such as Paul Revere, so that the school can maintain the name without it causing controversy.
Priory is a member of the suburban ABC League. Other members include John Burroughs School, Lutheran North High School, Lutheran South High School, Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, Principia High School, and Westminster Christian Academy. Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School and John Burroughs School are two of the school's biggest rivals. Students at the school are required to participate in a sport every season. In the fall, the school offers cross country, football, and soccer. In the winter, the school offers basketball, rugby, and wrestling. Students may choose to participate in the winter musical in order to fill their sports requirement. In the spring, the school offers golf, track and field, tennis, and baseball.
In the winter of 2004, the hockey Rebels received a bid to play in the Wickenheiser Cup, a memorial tournament named for the late St. Louis Blues defenseman Doug Wickenheiser. During their playoff run, they defeated Francis Howell, the highest ranked small school hockey team in Missouri, to advance to the final game against Fox High School. The game, played at the Scottrade Center (formerly Savvis Center and home to the St. Louis Blues), was a classic and a breakthrough for Priory athletics. Sophomore Mike Croghan, who was among the state leaders in points, scored four goals, including the game winner. This was Priory's first state sports title since 1973. In the fall of 2005, the Priory varsity soccer team became the first in this sport in Missouri's high school sports history, and the first since state titles were officially sanctioned by the Missouri State High School Athletics Association, to compete for a full season with no losses or ties. Led by All-American Jimmy Holmes, who scored 43 goals en-route to the best metro-player award, the soccer Rebels ended the season with a perfect 26-0-0 record, winning the state Class 2 title.
On February 26, 2007, the hockey Rebels won the Wickenheiser Cup for the second time, defeating Whitfield High School 4-3, after a third period comeback. The comeback was led by sophomore and game MVP Christian Herbosa, who scored all three of the Rebels comeback goals.
Also in the spring of 2007, the Priory golf team, coached by Dennis P. Guilliams in his final season, won its first state title. They dominated every team in the field, winning by 27 shots. The five golfers who helped contribute (Kyle Griege, J. D. Sabio, Joe Stock, Tim Finney, and Michael Kleffner) became the most dominant team in the school's history. After day one of the tournament, eventual runner-up Pembroke Hill of Kansas City was only behind by three strokes. The Rebels broke away in a rain-drenched second round, and the final team score was 583. Michael Kleffner tied for first in the individual championship, and Tim Finney finished fifth.

The Abbey Church

One of the school's major distinctions is the award-winning Abbey Church (1962), also known as the Church of St. Mary and St. Louis and the Priory Chapel. It was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, with the famous Italian architect and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi serving as consultant. The Abbey Church was an important landmark and name-making project for HOK, now the world's largest architectural practice (according to the 2006 edition of the ''BD World Architecture 200''). The church's circular facade consists of three tiers of whitewashed, thin-poured concrete parabolic arches, the top one forming a bell-tower; the arches appear to float upwards from their grassy base. They are faced with dark insulated-fiberglass polyester window walls which create a meditative translucency when viewed from within. The church also contains a 14th century sculpture of the Madonna and Christ child, a 17th century holy font in the Della Robbia style, and more modern sacred art by artists from the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France. On the grounds outside the church sit life-size sculptures of the abbey's patron saints, Saint Benedict, by Lithuanian-born artist Wiktor Szostalo, and the Holy Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, Our Lady of Grace, by American Philip Howie. The Abbey Church also serves as the home church for the Saint Louis Archdiocese parish of Saint Anselm's.

Mock Trial

On April 1, 2007, Priory's mock trial team made school history by becoming state champions. Prior to that year, the team had never advanced past the final four. Having moved onto the national competition, Priory again surpassed all expectations by placing fourth in the nation. The mock trial team was coached by Jim Davis, who graduated from Priory in 1998, Ted MacDonald, and Gretchen Myers. Michael Ahrens, James Arnold, and Andrew D'Souza led the team as the senior members, with Tim McAleenan, Will Godar, Bradley Taylor, and Brecht Mulvihill as the junior members.

Literary Highlight

The history of the monastery and school was chronicled by founding monk and original headmaster Fr. Timothy Horner, O.S.B. in his ''In Good Soil: The Founding of the Saint Louis Priory School 1954-1973'' (2001). In this historical yet often jovial work, written in his characteristically brilliant and dry style, Fr. Horner described the initial contact with the interested St. Louis Catholic laymen, and brought readers through the difficult but in his mind ultimately rewarding process of founding a new school in the English Benedictine Congregation.

Notable alumni

(Alumni are noted by their year of graduation.)

★ Kevin Kline (1965), Academy Award-winning actor

★ Peter Benoist (1966), Chairman of Enterprise Financial Services, Chairman and CEO, Enterprise Bank

★ Thomas Schlafly (1966), founder of Saint Louis Brewery (creators of Schlafly beer) and attorney

★ David Linzee (1970), author of mystery books

★ Mike Switzer and Joe Switzer (1973), relaunched the Switzer Candy Company (originally established in 1888) brand of Switzer's Licorice

★ Eddy L. Harris (1974), author (books include ''Mississippi Solo'', ''Native Stranger'', ''South of Haunted Dreams'', and ''Still Life in Harlem'')

★ Fr. Gregory Mohrman (1976), Former Headmaster of the School, current Prior

★ Emmett McAuliffe (1976), KMOX radio host and entertainment lawyer

★ Andrew Schlafly (1978), Attorney, son of conservative author and activist Phyllis Schlafly, and co-founder of Conservapedia

★ Bill Bidwill, Jr. (1981), Vice-President, Arizona Cardinals NFL football team

★ Andrew Busch (1981), Anheuser-Busch heir and formerly the top-rated amateur polo player in the US

★ Carl Artman III (1983), Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2006-

★ Honorable Gary Gaertner, Jr. (1983), Circuit Judge, Saint Louis County Circuit Court, Division 6

★ Michael Goessling (1985), miniature horse handler and breeder, owner of Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse

★ Bill Danna (1988), Microsoft Comptroller

★ Ned Cramer (1989), Editor-in-chief, ''Architect'' Magazine, former Executive Editor, ''Architecture'', former curator, Chicago Architecture Foundation

★ Gregory Dierberg (1989), President and CEO, Dierbergs Markets Inc supermarket chain

★ Dave Holmes (1989), MTV VJ and reality TV show host

★ Tim Convy (1998), keyboardist for rock group Ludo

★ Benjamin R. Noll (2000), National Football League offensive lineman, Detroit Lions

Sports Titles

Missouri State High School Athletic Association (MSHSAA) Titles:

★ 1973 Football

★ 1999 Academic Competition

★ 2004 Cross Country

★ 2005 Soccer

★ 2007 Golf ( 2nd lowest 36-hole Total (583) for par 71-hole course in MSHSAA history)
Wickenheiser Cup (Hockey)

★ 2004

★ 2007
Individual Titles:

★ Golf, 2007, Michael Kleffner

All-American Athletes/Athletes on Division I NCAA Scholarship

All-American:

★ Bill Daake, Basketball, 1969 (later attended Princeton University)

★ Jimmy Holmes, Soccer, 2006 (currently attending Saint Louis University)
Division I NCAA Scholarship (Class of '07):

★ Dan Sandbrink, Baseball, 2007, Stanford University

★ Josh Walburn, Soccer, 2007, Princeton University

★ Graydon Klassen, Tennis, 2007, Marquette University

Current Student Council Officers

★ Brian Eggert (2nd Year, Treasurer)

★ Frederick Forshaw (1st Year, Member at Large)

★ Ryan Linkul (2nd Year, Vice President)

★ Timothy McAleenan (1st Year, Secretary)

★ Daniel Sullivan (6th Year, President)

External links

★ Saint Louis Abbey and Priory School official site

★ Saint Louis Abbey Website