New grades 6 and 9 students enter the Leo and Joan Mahoney Wellness Center in awe as the community gives them a standing ovation. View more photos from the first day of school on SmugMug.
The Prep’s 2025-26 academic year opens with messages of hope and God’s enduring faithfulness to His covenant
Opening day for students at St. John’s Prep each September is the quintessential you-had-to-be-there moment to be fully appreciated, but an account from a front row seat comes close.
With almost 1,800 attendees inside the Dianne and Ray Carey '67 Field House at the Leo and Joan Mahoney Wellness Center, including 1,432 students and more than 300 faculty and staff, the energy was predictably palpable. But every new year offers perspectives and points of emphasis that are distinct and compelling.
Fittingly, the first full assemblage of this year’s Prep community began with an opening prayer reflection by a student who shares a name with a biblical prophet. Echoing the Old Testament figure who promised God would transform hearts and bind His people to love and follow Him, Jeremiah Ramirez ’26 noted that this year’s featured Xaverian value of God within us, Simplicity, “challenges us to focus on what truly matters and let go of the distractions that keep us from becoming our best selves.”
Head of School Dr. Ed Hardiman P’19 ’21 ’26 used his time at the podium to drill down on that message, characterizing the value of Simplicity as one that calls us to invite others to the table, build bridges, and model kindness.
“None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes,” he said. “The Xaverian Spiritual Value of Simplicity calls us to move beyond the distractions that lead us to judge and diminish. Each of us will stumble at multiple points as we work to both welcome and connect. (An intentional focus on this value) is an opportunity to sustain our faith and actions to build a community where all are known, valued, and loved.”
The centerpiece of the Prep community’s first gathering also involves sustained action. In this case, uninterrupted applause as students new to campus entered the Wellness Center. As 96 sixth graders and 273 freshmen filed into the field house, attendees delivered an ovation that endured nearly eight minutes.
“I had some nerves walking in, but it felt good to get all that applause and I’m feeling a lot of excitement,” said Charlie Eurich ’32 of Essex. “I guess I’m most looking forward to getting my iPad.”
Lynnfield’s Grayson Tremblay ’32 seemed similarly energized.
“It felt good, it was a good welcome,” he said. “Now, I guess I’m most excited about getting to all my classes for the first time.”
Current students who’d been welcomed in years past view the Day One “clap-in” as a meaningful waypoint in a rapidly evolving continuum.
“I remember being nervous, but it was also exciting,” recalled Boxford’s Sal DeMartinis ’28. “It’s memorable, but it’s good to be on the other side of it now, too.”
Ramirez’s opening reflection framed the dynamic well.
“Whether this is your very first day at St. John’s or you’ve been here before, we’re all stepping into something new and meaningful together,” he said. “Simplicity asks us to be honest, authentic, and intentional with how we live our lives. (It reminds us that) fulfillment doesn’t come from having more or from living with purpose and clarity. Each of you has been given unique talents, and by living simply, staying grounded in faith, learning and friendship, you can share those gifts in ways that uplift this community.”
Time-Honored Custom
After checking in with their first-period class, students made their way to the Leo and Joan Mahoney Wellness Center beneath baby blue skies with temperatures in the low 60s. Then, shortly after 8:20 am, returning students, faculty, and staff reveled in the beloved Prep “clap-in.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, members of the Prep’s Spire Society distributed silicone wristbands embossed with the word “Simplicity.” Many Prep students wear multiple bracelets emblazoned with each of the five Xaverian values—Simplicity, Compassion, Humility, Trust and Zeal—that they collect throughout the course of their time at St. John’s. By the numbers, this year’s Class of 2026 features 279 members.
Though there was much to absorb, especially for those enjoying their first official day as an Eagle, the core purpose of the prayer service—that students should feel profoundly welcome, free to discover their individual inspiration, and celebrate their common origins—clearly resonated.
“Wear this bracelet as a tangible way to remind yourself to be someone who models kindness,” said Hardiman. “Oftentimes, we can get overwhelmed by having to do many tasks. The beauty of the value of Simplicity is it does not require us to do anything. Rather, it is about being. It’s about how we choose to interact with each other, and the world beyond.”
A Joyful New Year's Eve
On the eve of opening day, nearly 200 families viewed a Virtual Welcome Prayer Service to mark the start of a new academic year on campus. The event shines a light on community as the strength of St. John’s and underscores that gathering for prayer deepens our connections.
The Xaverian spiritual value of Simplicity carried the night as attendees were urged to explore the testimony of Theodore Ryken—the Dutch Catholic missionary who founded the Xaverian Brothers—by living authentic lives which, in his vernacular, meant living life as individuals created in the image and likeness of God, the source of all love in the world, which ultimately offers us a freedom and a liberation to we reach out to those in need.
“I pray for all of us as we begin this academic year that we may grow in our own tenderness, be able to see the needs of others, stand by them in their difficulties, and respond to those needs in ways that are uplifting,” said Salem’s Alex Sideridis ’26 as he led the Prayer of the Faithful. “Lord, hear our prayer for all of our students this year that they can develop a deeper sense of their own God-given uniqueness, and that they foster an openness to the supports that surround them in their journey. I pray for our entire SJP community, students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and board members, that we may open ourselves to the call of Simplicity to free ourselves of the distractions that keep us from embracing all people as unique expressions of God’s love.”