Skip To Main Content

Mission and Values

You've landed on the most important page on our website. Our mission and values influence everything we do—everything we are—here at St. John's Prep.

Our True North

St. John's mission and values have guided our community since the School was founded by Brother Benjamin, C.F.X. in 1907. Ever since those first students stepped foot on campus, our mission and values have been the starting point of everything we do at the Prep: it's our true North. With every decision, every new class offered, every program created, we ask ourselves: is this aligned with our mission and values?

Generations of students have discovered the most important lessons learned in our hallways don't have to do with grades or tests, but rather, how you decide to move through this world? Are you a servant leader; someone who influences every situation for the benefit of others? Do you think and act with compassion, simplicity, humility, trust, and zeal? Our mission and values provide a strong foundation from which our students go on to be forces of good in the world.

Our Mission

St. John's Prep, an inclusive, Catholic, Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School for young men in grades 6 through 12, is committed to educating the whole person.

Our rigorous academic and extensive co-curricular program encourages students to develop their spiritual, intellectual, moral, physical, and creative potential, and inspires them to honor the diversity that enriches both our school community and the world beyond St. John's. We challenge our young men to grow in faith and wisdom, to promote human dignity, to act with compassion and integrity, to pursue justice and peace, and to live lives of service to society.

Our Xaverian Values

As a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School, we are called to live out the five spiritual values that animated Theodore James Ryken—founder of the Xaverian Brothers—and his followers. Each of the values mean something distinctive and special in the context of a Xaverian Brothers education.

A way of thinking, feeling, and acting that frees the heart, the mind, and the soul.

"In a spirit of appreciation and gratitude, we acknowledge that “through the common, ordinary, unspectacular flow of everyday life, [we] will experience a liberation and a freedom never before imagined.” (Fundamental Principles)

The recognition that each person is a unique expression of God’s love.

Humility inspires a sense of connectedness, allowing members of the school community to affirm each other, to learn from each other, and to work with each other. 

The tenderness of heart that sees and hears the needs of all, near and far.

We are called to stand with one another in difficulties, supporting and encouraging all of our brothers and sisters, especially the poor, weak, and oppressed, for they too are called to experience and share the love of God with and through us. 

The meeting place of mind, heart, faith, and courage. 

Trust allows people to grow in faith in spite of life's difficulties. Through trust we are joined together in our faith and efforts to build our community, comforted and inspired by the understanding that "in harmony, small things grow." (Fundamental Principles)

The joyful and enthusiastic commitment to the mission of the Catholic Church. 

Zeal unifies our community in single-minded devotion and intense passion for the formation of the whole person. Through zeal we are emboldened and empowered to face trials and obstacles in our path, knowing “that nothing special is achieved without much labor, effort, and zeal.” (Fundamental Principles)

Simplicity

Each year, the St. John's community focuses its attention and intentions on one (or two) values. For the 2025-2026 academic year, we focus on simplicity.

"You are called to be of one heart and one mind with them so that you can participate in the building up of the reign of God. This was the vision Theodore James Ryken had in view when he founded the congregation: A band of Brothers who mutually help, encourage, and edify one another, and who work together.”
—Fundamental Principles of the Xaverian Brothers

Our Cultural Priorities

St. John's Prep has developed three cultural priorities that stem from our mission and from the Fundamental Principles of the Xaverian Brothers. We use this series of cultural priorities to guide the way we do our work and operate as an institution. Our goal is to make these priorities a lived reality in the lives of our students, parents, faculty, staff, coaches, and the greater St. John's Prep community.

1. We see all people as created in the image and likeness of God.
2. We seek to embrace a habit of excellence in all endeavors.
3. We seek to empower all whom we encounter to be unique expressions of God's love in our world.

Learn more about how we live the mission