Rutgers Preparatory School

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Coordinates: 40°31′32″N, 74°29′43″W

Rutgers Preparatory School
motto = Severa res est verum gaudium
Hard work is true joy.
Location
Somerset, NJ, USA
Information
Religion Originally Dutch Reformed, now Secular
Headmaster Dr. Steven A. Loy
Enrollment

712
Faculty 68
Student:teacher ratio 6:1
Average SAT scores (2005) 623 verbal
641 math
Type Private, day
Campus 35 acres (142,000 m²)
Athletics 15 sports
Athletics conference Patriot
Mascot The Argonaut
Color(s) Maroon and white
Established 10 November 1766
Homepage www.rutgersprep.org

Rutgers Preparatory School (also known as Rutgers Prep or RPS) is a private, co-educational day school located in the Somerset section of Franklin Township, New Jersey. Established in 1766, Rutgers Preparatory School is the oldest independent school in the state of New Jersey and the sixteenth oldest in the United States. Rutgers Prep is among the most competitive schools in the state of New Jersey and commonly recognized as a prestigious institute of learning.

Rutgers Preparatory School is a member of the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools.

Contents

[edit] History

Rutgers Preparatory School is the oldest independent preparatory school in the state of New Jersey.[1] Founded as the Queen's College Grammar School, it was established on November 10, 1766 under the same charter that founded Queen's College (now Rutgers University). Instruction began on August 15, 1768 under its first master, Caleb Cooper, who was affiliated with the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). After 1825, it was known as the Rutgers College Grammar School. It was first established in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from 1829 until 1957, housed on the corner of College Avenue and Somerset Street in a building that today is known as Alexander Johnston Hall, the second-oldest surviving building on the Rutgers University campus. From 1809 to 1829, Rutgers Prep shared Old Queens, the oldest building at Rutgers University (1809), with the young Queens College (after 1825, Rutgers College) and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Before then, instruction was carried on in various taverns and boarding houses in the New Brunswick area.

During the Progressive Era, Rutgers Preparatory School was among the first schools in the nation to institute a curriculum involving the laboratory sciences, extracurricular activities, student publications, and community service. Rutgers Prep first admitted women in 1952; that same year, it eliminated the American football team and ended its boarding program to become a day school to which students commuted rather than lived. In 1956, faced with the prospect of Rutgers becoming the state university, the university's Board of Trustees decided to divest itself of the preparatory school, which became fully independent in 1957, relocating to its current location on the Wells Estate (purchased from the Colgate-Palmolive Company) in nearby Somerset, New Jersey. Its address is 1345 Easton Ave., Somerset, NJ, 08873.

[edit] Academics

Rutgers Preparatory School offers four levels of education: a Primary School serving Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten, a Lower School from grades one through four, a Middle School offering grades five to eight, and an Upper School offering traditional secondary level education from grades nine to twelve. Students are required to complete twenty course credits in order to graduate, accumulating a minimum of five credits per year, and are to take courses based in a traditional liberal arts curriculum that spans across several academic departments (English, History, Mathematics, Science, World Language, Art, Computers, Music, and Drama).

Each student in the Upper School is required to perform a minimum of ten hours of community service during each academic year as a condition for advancing to the next grade level and for graduation. This community-service obligation may be fulfilled either through volunteer work with a non-profit organization, through a charity, or through a service that in some way benefits the school community (tutoring, etc.). In addition, at least five of these hours must be completed outside the school campus.

[edit] Awards and Recognition

Rutgers Preparatory School is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and was recognized in 1992 as a Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education.[2]

The 2007 Junior Varsity Academic Team is the first JV team from Rutgers Prep to go undefeated and capture the championship title. The 2008 Varsity Academic Team also went undefeated and captured the championship title.

[edit] Athletics

Rutgers Preparatory School fields teams in boys' and girls' soccer, tennis, basketball, and lacrosse as well as baseball, softball, volleyball and co-ed teams in golf, cross country, swimming and wrestling.

Rutgers Prep competes in the Patriot Conference, which also includes the Gill St. Bernard's School, the Ranney School, the Purnell School, Stuart Country Day School, Wardlaw-Hartridge School, Timothy Christian School, Princeton Day School, The Pennington School, and Saddle River Day School. Rutgers Prep also regularly competes against other private and public schools including Blair Academy, The Peddie School, and the Hun School of Princeton.

Rutgers Prep also participates in an athletic tournament called the Headmaster's Cup, with Gill St. Bernard's School, which began in 2004. The contest, which alternates campuses every year, includes fall sports from both the middle and upper schools. Rutgers Prep won the inaugural event in 2004 and the two schools tied in 2005.

In the 2005-2006 academic year, several Rutgers Prep teams won state championships, including girl's soccer, girl's basketball, and volleyball. In the fall of 2006, the top seeded girl's soccer team tied second seeded Ranney School in the title game, becoming co-champions. This match was a rematch of the 2005 title game, where Rutgers Prep upset the number 1 seed 1-0 in double overtime. This is the third consecutive year that the Argonauts have either shared the title or won it outright. The girls basketball team also repeated as State Prep "B" champions, as the top seeded Argonauts defeated the Knights of Gill St. Bernard's School by a score of 67-48.

[edit] Student publications

  • Argo — Quarterly Newspaper
  • Excelsior — Bi-Annual Literary Magazine
  • Ye Dial — School Yearbook

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sahn, Michelle. "Students helping students is the norm at Rutgers Prep", Home News Tribune, November 18, 2004. Accessed October 21, 2007. "The young people involved in these projects, as well as a host of others, are among the 710 students who attend Rutgers Preparatory School, the oldest independent school in the state."
  2. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), accessed May 11, 2006
  3. ^ James Bishop, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed September 1, 2007.

[edit] External links


Private High Schools and Prep Schools in New Jersey
Blair Academy | Christian Brothers Academy | Delbarton School | Dwight-Englewood School | Gill St. Bernard's School | Hun School of Princeton | Lawrenceville School | Morristown-Beard School | Newark Academy | Peddie School | The Pennington School | The Pingry School | Princeton Day School | Ranney School | Rutgers Preparatory School | Seton Hall Preparatory School | Saint Benedict's Preparatory School | St. Peter's Preparatory School | Wardlaw-Hartridge School