Austin Preparatory School Schola Praeparatoria Austin |
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Address | |
101 Willow Street Reading, Massachusetts 01867 United States |
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Coordinates | 42°31′47″N 71°7′37″W / 42.52972°N 71.12694°WCoordinates: 42°31′47″N 71°7′37″W / 42.52972°N 71.12694°W |
Information | |
Type | Private, Coeducational |
Religious affiliation(s) | Catholic |
Patron saint(s) | Saint Augustine |
Established | 1961 |
Headmaster | James Hickey |
Faculty | 60 |
Grades | 6–12 |
Enrollment | 700 (2016) |
Campus | Suburban |
Color(s) | Green, White and Black |
Athletics conference | Catholic Central League |
Mascot | Cougar |
Team name | Cougars |
Accreditation | New England Association of Schools and Colleges |
Publication | Austin Magazine (literary/art magazine) |
Newspaper | The Legend |
Tuition | $20,100 (2017-2018) |
Website | www |
Austin Preparatory School is a co-educational Catholic school located in Reading, Massachusetts. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1961. The institution is colloquially referred to as Austin Prep and serves students in grades 6-12.
Though founded in 1961, Austin Prep enrolled its first students in September 1963.
The School was founded by members of the Order of Saint Augustine, Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. Since 1973 the School has been operated by a lay Board of Trustees, and is a fully incorporated, not for profit, 501-C3 organization. The Augustinians continued to serve formally at Austin Prep until 1992. There are no Augustinian friars currently on the faculty; however, the present staff does include one diocesan priest as Chaplin.
In 1987 Austin opened a Middle School Program, and further expanded in 1992 by admitting young women to become fully co-educational. The current enrollment (2010–2011) of 700 students is almost equally divided between young men and women. The Middle School enrolls roughly 200 students and the Upper School enrolls approximately 500 students.
Students commute to Austin from over 50 towns from the northern suburban communities of Boston reaching north through the Merrimack Valley Region and North Shore communities and also southern New Hampshire.
As an all-boys school in the 1970s and early 1980s Austin competed in the Merrimack Valley Conference and then the Catholic Conference. With the addition of the Middle School program, a built in feeder system was established for the school. The coming of co-education at Austin brought the addition of young women athletes and co-ed athletic teams were introduced at Austin.
Austin Prep is a member of the Catholic Central League, in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. Their rivals include Bishop Fenwick, Arlington Catholic, Archbishop Williams and St. Mary’s as well as some much larger schools in the area including St. John’s Prep and Central Catholic High School. Austin Prep is known well for its Academic Decathlon team.