Saint Louis Priory School
| Saint Louis Priory School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
500 South Mason Road , 63141 | |
| Coordinates | 38°38′39″N 90°28′44″W / 38.644193°N 90.478863°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, All-Boys |
| Motto | Laus Tibi Domine (Latin: "Praise to Thee, Lord") |
| Religious affiliation | Catholic Church |
| Established | 1956 |
| Headmaster | Dr. Scott Welz |
| Faculty | 51 |
| Grades | 6–12 |
| Enrollment | 324 (2025-26) |
| Average class size | 30-60 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 6:1 |
| Campus size | 150 acres (0.61 km2) |
| Colors | Red and Blue |
| Athletics | Yes |
| Athletics conference | Metro League |
| Team name | Ravens |
| Accreditations | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools,[2] ISACS[3] |
| Publication | Priory Magazine |
| Newspaper | The Record |
| Yearbook | The Shield |
| Tuition | $25,600 for 6th grade. $30,135 for 7-12 grades. Additional $1,500 for lunch, approximately $400-$600 for books and $475 laptop lease fee[1] |
| Website | www |
Saint Louis Priory School is a Catholic secondary day school for boys on a 150-acre campus in Creve Coeur, Missouri, within the Archdiocese of St. Louis.[4] The school is run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey.
History
The school was established in 1956, at the invitation of St. Louis Catholics, by the Benedictine monks of the Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire, England. The corresponding Priory of Saints Louis and Mary (now Saint Louis Abbey), a Benedictine monastery, was established in 1955. 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 of the abbey in St. Louis, from 1955 to 1967, was Fr Columba Cary-Elwes, an author, monastic leader, and former titular Abbot of Westminster. The founding headmaster was scholar and author Fr Timothy Horner. who also founded the school's first athletic team, the Rebel Ruggers.
The history of the monastery and school was chronicled by founding monk and original headmaster Fr Timothy Horner in his In Good Soil: The Founding of the Saint Louis Priory School 1954–1973 (2001). In this history, Horner describes the initial contact with St. Louis Catholic laymen, and explains the process of founding a new school in the English Benedictine Congregation.
As Horner notes in In Good Soil, the purpose of school, as conceived by the lay St. Louis Catholics who initiated the project, was to "offer its students a Catholic-college preparatory education of the highest excellence so as to enter the colleges, universities, and technical schools of their choice."[5] By the middle of the 20th century, Catholics had gone to great lengths to develop their own educational system and were expected to support it, so the fact that the school was founded with a view to sending its alumni to non-Catholic colleges was something of a departure for the time.[5]
Academics
The Washington Post ranked Priory second, and the top private school, in Missouri, in its 2016 list of "America's Most Challenging High Schools."[6] The online site Niche has consistently ranked Priory as #1 in multiple categories. In 2025, Priory was ranked #1 Best Catholic High School in Missouri and #1 Best All-Boys High School in the St. Louis Metro area[7][8] and the state of Missouri.[9]
Sports
Priory is a member of the suburban Metro League, which was reconstituted out of the former ABC League.[10] Priory's mascot is the Ravens.[11] When the school was founded, the sports mascot was the Saints. In the '60s, "under the influence of a charismatic history teacher who specialized in the Civil War", it was changed to the Rebels, referencing the Confederate States of America. Initially, this link was obvious and the students used Confederate symbols to show pride in their sports team, including a giant painting of General Beauregard on the gym walls.[12] Over time, this link weakened and explicit symbols of the Confederacy went away. In 2020, the mascot was officially changed to the Ravens.[13]
In the winter of 2004, the hockey team received a bid to play in the Wickenheiser Cup, a memorial tournament hosted by the Mid-States Club Hockey Association league and named for the late St. Louis Blues Center Doug Wickenheiser. Priory won the championship game, played at the Scottrade Center, giving the school its first state sports title since 1973.[14] In 2007, the hockey team won the Wickenheiser Cup for the second time.[15]
In the fall of 2005, the Priory varsity soccer team became the first in the sport in Missouri's high school sports history, and the first since state titles were officially sanctioned by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, to compete for a full season with no losses or ties.[16] The soccer Rebels led by All-American forward Jimmy Holmes ended the season with a perfect 26-0-0 record, winning the state Class 2 title. In November 2011, the soccer Rebels again produced a perfect season, finishing 27-0-0 and winning the Missouri State High School Class 2 championship with a 2-0 victory over Trinity High School. In so doing they became the only school in Missouri high school soccer history to twice post a perfect season, with no losses and no ties. The soccer Rebels' team record included 24 shutouts, and they outscored opponents 107-5.[17]
In the spring of 2007, the Priory golf team won its first state title, winning by 27 shots. The final team score was 583.[18]
A little over half a decade after establishing a lacrosse program, Priory's varsity lacrosse team won its first Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association state title in 2016 by defeating O'Fallon (Illinois) 7-6 in the double overtime Division II championship final.[19][20]
Notable alumni
- Government and politics
- John A. Heffern (1972), United States Ambassador to Armenia, 2011–2014, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, US Department of State Bureau of European Affairs, 2015–present
- D. John Sauer (1993), Rhodes Scholar, Solicitor General of Missouri,[21] Solicitor General of the United States
- Business
- Thomas Schlafly (1966), co-founder of Saint Louis Brewery (creators of Schlafly beer)
- David Wehner (1986), CFO of Meta Platforms[22]
- Sports and entertainment
- Kevin Kline (1965), Academy Award-winning actor
- John Klein (1983), pro soccer player, St. Louis University Billikens Athletics Hall of Fame, Columbia College Soccer Coach
- Dave Holmes (1989), MTV VJ and reality TV show host
- Benjamin R. Noll (2000), NFL offensive lineman; had stints with the St. Louis Rams, Dallas Cowboys, and Detroit Lions
- Arts and sciences
- Eddy L. Harris (1974), author (Mississippi Solo, Native Stranger, South of Haunted Dreams, and Still Life in Harlem), and filmmaker (River to the Heart)
- Thomas L. Delworth (1976), a fellow of the American Geophysical Union who received the 2021 Bert Bolin Award for Climate research
- John Keene (1983), MacArthur Fellow, writer, translator, professor, and artist
References
- ^ "Tuition & Financial Aid". Stlprioryschool.org. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ^ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ ISACS. "ISACS Find a school".
- ^ "Zoning Map". Creve Coeur, Missouri. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ a b Timothy., Horner (2001). In good soil : the founding of Saint Louis Priory and School, 1954-1973. [St. Louis, Mo.]: Saint Louis Abbey Press. p. 15. ISBN 0966210417. OCLC 49037278.
- ^ "U.S. high school rankings by state — Most challenging schools". Washington Post. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "2017 Best Catholic High Schools in St. Louis Area". Niche. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ https://k12.niche.com/st-louis-priory-school-creve-coeur-mo/rankings/ Niche 2017 St. Louis Priory Rankings
- ^ "2017 Best Catholic High Schools in Missouri". Niche. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ Auten, Brett (21 May 2010). "ABC League to become an expanded co-ed conference". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
- ^ youtube.com (16 December 2020). "Introducing Our New Mascot - A Message From Abbot Gregory". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "A Joint Message from Abbot Gregory and Father Cuthbert Regarding Mascot". 6 July 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "Saint Louis Priory School on Instagram: "BIG THINGS ARE HAPPENING AT PRIORY! After months of collaboration with students, faculty and alumni, we're thrilled to announce that on Dec. 16 we'll be unveiling our new mascot. We're looking forward to starting this journey together and looking ahead to the future. Stay tuned for updates! More coming soon. #PrioryProud"". Instagram. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ stltoday.com. "STLhighschoolSPORTS.com". stltoday.com. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, "CBC routs Chaminade for ninth championship", February 27, 2007.
- ^ Lyons, Joe. "STLhighschoolSPORTS.com". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on 12 May 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ Uptain, Greg. "Priory is perfection: Win against Trinity in title game caps 27-0 season". stltoday.com. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "Sports wrapup". St. Louis Review. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ Hall, Josh (29 May 2016). "Priory makes extra wait worth it by beating O'Fallon for first state title". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
- ^ "Trust, fun had role in Priory lacrosse's success | St. Louis Review". stlouisreview.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
- ^ Mannies, Jo (10 February 2017). "Missouri Attorney General Hawley addresses Democrats' residency concerns, rents apartment". St Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Saint Louis Business Journal", "Priory graduate named Facebook CFO"