In 1967 St. Benedict’s Preparatory School faced closure amongst the racial, and economic turmoil surrounding it. The inner city school, where most students come from low-economic backgrounds, is now flourishing, the near closure only but a memory. In 1972, there was solid talk of closing the school down. It was closed for one year, before former student Leahy, then aged 26, decided to make one last attempt for success.
At the time, Benedictine monk Edwin Leahy decided to put the students in charge. He used the Boy Scouts Guide as the guide book.
Now, at this school, the students run the majority of the programs. The student groups set schedules and coordinate events. If one student is missing, and the parents are unaware of their location, it isn’t unusual for a group of students to go out searching, “because they have to be in school.”
It’s a success story that revolves around the affirmation “You can be… go and conquer.” The school revolves around the students leading themselves to success; they refer to each other as brothers, their support for each other goes beyond school, but into daily life. Bad decisions, in the process are accepted. Leahy states “That’s a better learning experience.”
The other school motto: “Whatever hurts my brother, hurts me.”
The $12,000 per annum school fee is steep, but 80 percent pay only half. The school year is also 11 months, running on the premise of gang mentality – but in a positive light.
Leahy believes it is education that saves lives, and this education forces the students to closely examine the type of person they want to be.
The private all-boys school has a 98 percent graduation rate and more than 90 percent of them end up going to college. Those who have nowhere else to go, who still want an education, have a place on the monastery grounds until they graduate. If that isn’t a success story for the underprivileged, what is?
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