SJP's 175th Birthday
Happy Birthday, Prep Nation!
St. Joseph’s Prep Celebrates 175th Anniversary Today
Today, Tuesday, September 15, marks a historic milestone: the 175th anniversary of the founding of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School.
It was on this day in 1851 that 95 young men entered St. Joseph’s Church on Willings Alley for their first day of school. Fittingly, they began their Prep journey with the Mass of the Holy Ghost, engaging in a tradition shared by Jesuit schools around the world.
This morning, 95 current Prep students returned to where our story began, traveling to Old St. Joseph’s Church to represent those first 95 students—and the generations of Prep Hawks who have followed in their footsteps. They entered through the same doorway used by those students in 1851, connecting today’s Prep directly with the young men who began this remarkable journey 175 years ago.
As those students gathered at Old St. Joseph’s, the rest of the Prep community celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit in our historic Church of the Gesu at 17th & Girard.
Tonight, Philadelphia joins the celebration. The city skyline and historic Boathouse Row will be illuminated in crimson and gray in recognition of our 175th anniversary. In addition, the PECO Building crown lights will display the message “St. Joseph’s Prep: 175 Years as Philadelphia’s Jesuit High School” through Wednesday, September 16.
For 175 years, generations of young men have walked through our doors and gone out into Philadelphia and the world as Men For And With Others. Today, we celebrate everyone who has been part of that story—our students, alumni, parents, families, faculty, staff, Jesuits, friends, and benefactors, all of Prep Nation—and look forward with great hope to the Prep’s next 175 years.
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