St. Michael's Preparatory School (Silverado, California)
Encyclopedia
Saint Michael's Preparatory School is a private
, Roman Catholic, college preparatory boys' boarding school in Silverado, California
. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange
.
It is owned and operated by the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey
, who established it in 1961 as St. Michael's Junior Seminary and Novitiate.
, many of whom teach at the school.
Religious education
is compulsory for all students, as is daily attendance at morning mass
before breakfast and night prayer
after supper. Studies in Latin
are also mandatory.
100% of its graduates go on to institutions of higher learning.
This is considered a highly selective high school.
Good behavior is enforced among the students through the "conduct grade" which directly impacts student GPA, and a system of prefects called "roomleaders".
Most students participate in one or more sports
. These include Cross Country
and Football
in the fall, Soccer in the winter
, and Baseball
in the spring
. Underclassmen who do not participate in a sport must take the physical education
class. The school mascot is the Pioneer.
Each year during Christmas
vacation, the Junior class
travels to Rome
for two weeks under the supervision of several teacher
s and parent chaperones.
, Hungary
, whose roots go back to the 12th century.
The Norbertine priests in the 1940s were well-established teachers in the national educational system of Hungary
that encompassed religious and secular schools alike. All private schools, however, were nationalized by 1948. Two groups of priests from the Norbertine Abbey of Csorna
fled their native land on separate July nights in 1950. Shortly thereafter, their religious community was suppressed. On the night of July 11, 1950, word came to the Abbey in Csorna that the police would arrive the next day to arrest the confreres and suppress the community. Seven priests left that night in two groups to hike across country to the Austrian border.
The Hungarian refugees emigrated to America
.
Arriving in New York in 1952, they were welcomed by the Abbey of St. Norbert in DePere, Wisconsin, with whom they worked for several years, saving money to begin their own monastery.
At the invitation of Cardinal McIntyre, archbishop of Los Angeles, they first moved to Santa Ana, California
in 1957 and taught at Mater Dei High School
, establishing a monastic community the next year. The founding abbot was the Rt. Rev. Ladislaus Parker, O.Praem.
The exiles saw the move to Orange County, California
as their chance to establish a new foundation.
In December 1958 Cardinal McIntyre gave his consent to the Fathers establishing their own foundation. Their desire was fueled by the desire to perpetuate the religious and educational heritage of their native Csorna
. Under the leadership of Fr. Ladislas Parker, the Fathers invested their savings to purchase property.
Fr. Hubert Szanto joined Fr. Parker to open St. Michael’s Junior Seminary and Novitiate in September 1961.
St. Michael's opened this Junior Seminary in 1962, which would evolve into the present day Preparatory School.
Rapid changes in American society and in the Roman Catholic Church
prompted Fr. Parker to petition Cardinal McIntyre to allow the school to introduce a parallel college preparatory program for lay students. This petition uniquely changed St. Michael’s.
When the 1970s began, St. Michael’s was flourishing more as a high school than as a seminary. As the number of those interested in the priesthood at the high school level continued to dwindle, the parallel programs gradually merged into one.
Back in the United States
, educational programs similar to St. Michael’s were closing. Thus, by 1995, St. Michael’s Prep became the only institution where Catholic, secondary education was available in the entire Western United States for those seeking to study in an all-male, residential environment.
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
, Roman Catholic, college preparatory boys' boarding school in Silverado, California
Silverado, California
Founded in 1878, Silverado , a California Historical Landmark, is an unincorporated community in Silverado Canyon, which is located in the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California. Portions of the town sit on a former Mexican land grant Rancho Lomas de Santiago. The majority of...
. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange
Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange is a particular church of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church whose territory comprises the whole of Orange County, California, in the United States...
.
It is owned and operated by the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey
St. Michael's Abbey (Orange County, California)
Saint Michael's Abbey is a monastery of Roman Catholic Canons Regular of the Order of Premontre in Silverado, Orange County, California.The members of the community combine a monastic-style life with the active ministry of ordained priests....
, who established it in 1961 as St. Michael's Junior Seminary and Novitiate.
Faith
St. Michael’s is run by the Norbertine Order. An abbey school, it adjoins a community of 60 priestsSt. Michael's Abbey (Orange County, California)
Saint Michael's Abbey is a monastery of Roman Catholic Canons Regular of the Order of Premontre in Silverado, Orange County, California.The members of the community combine a monastic-style life with the active ministry of ordained priests....
, many of whom teach at the school.
Religious education
Religious Education
Religious Education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a...
is compulsory for all students, as is daily attendance at morning mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
before breakfast and night prayer
Compline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
after supper. Studies in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
are also mandatory.
Academics
St. Michael's Prep offers a classical sequence of courses at College Prep, Honors, and Advanced Placement levels. It is the only boarding school to rank among the top fifty Catholic High Schools in the nation.100% of its graduates go on to institutions of higher learning.
This is considered a highly selective high school.
Character
St. Michael's educates young men in fidelity to the Catholic intellectual tradition. It is exclusively a boarding school, with students and teachers living and working together in five-day & seven-day boarding programs. St. Michael's offers significant opportunities for wholesome growth through clear standards.Good behavior is enforced among the students through the "conduct grade" which directly impacts student GPA, and a system of prefects called "roomleaders".
Most students participate in one or more sports
Student athlete
A student athlete is a term used to describe a participant in an organized competitive sport sponsored by the educational institution in which he or she is enrolled, a term primarily used in the United States. It is used to describe the direct balance of a full-time student and a full-time athlete...
. These include Cross Country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
and Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
in the fall, Soccer in the winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
, and Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
in the spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
. Underclassmen who do not participate in a sport must take the physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
class. The school mascot is the Pioneer.
Each year during Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
vacation, the Junior class
Eleventh grade
Eleventh Grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Brazil:...
travels to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
for two weeks under the supervision of several teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s and parent chaperones.
History
St. Michael's Abbey was founded in 1961 by seven priests from the Norbertine Abbey of St. Michael in CsornaCsorna
- People :David Gestetner, inventor of the Gestetner duplicating machine, was born in Csorna on March 20, 1854....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, whose roots go back to the 12th century.
The Norbertine priests in the 1940s were well-established teachers in the national educational system of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
that encompassed religious and secular schools alike. All private schools, however, were nationalized by 1948. Two groups of priests from the Norbertine Abbey of Csorna
Csorna
- People :David Gestetner, inventor of the Gestetner duplicating machine, was born in Csorna on March 20, 1854....
fled their native land on separate July nights in 1950. Shortly thereafter, their religious community was suppressed. On the night of July 11, 1950, word came to the Abbey in Csorna that the police would arrive the next day to arrest the confreres and suppress the community. Seven priests left that night in two groups to hike across country to the Austrian border.
The Hungarian refugees emigrated to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Arriving in New York in 1952, they were welcomed by the Abbey of St. Norbert in DePere, Wisconsin, with whom they worked for several years, saving money to begin their own monastery.
At the invitation of Cardinal McIntyre, archbishop of Los Angeles, they first moved to Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
in 1957 and taught at Mater Dei High School
Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California)
Mater Dei High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational secondary school in Santa Ana, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. With an enrollment of 2,100 students Mater Dei High School is one of the largest Catholic high schools in the United States...
, establishing a monastic community the next year. The founding abbot was the Rt. Rev. Ladislaus Parker, O.Praem.
The exiles saw the move to Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
as their chance to establish a new foundation.
In December 1958 Cardinal McIntyre gave his consent to the Fathers establishing their own foundation. Their desire was fueled by the desire to perpetuate the religious and educational heritage of their native Csorna
Csorna
- People :David Gestetner, inventor of the Gestetner duplicating machine, was born in Csorna on March 20, 1854....
. Under the leadership of Fr. Ladislas Parker, the Fathers invested their savings to purchase property.
Fr. Hubert Szanto joined Fr. Parker to open St. Michael’s Junior Seminary and Novitiate in September 1961.
St. Michael's opened this Junior Seminary in 1962, which would evolve into the present day Preparatory School.
Rapid changes in American society and in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
prompted Fr. Parker to petition Cardinal McIntyre to allow the school to introduce a parallel college preparatory program for lay students. This petition uniquely changed St. Michael’s.
When the 1970s began, St. Michael’s was flourishing more as a high school than as a seminary. As the number of those interested in the priesthood at the high school level continued to dwindle, the parallel programs gradually merged into one.
Back in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, educational programs similar to St. Michael’s were closing. Thus, by 1995, St. Michael’s Prep became the only institution where Catholic, secondary education was available in the entire Western United States for those seeking to study in an all-male, residential environment.