Supporting Excellence
How Your Contributions are an Investment in Success St. Francis Prep Nurtures
Talent & Creativity in Music & The Arts
Alums Adrian ‘91 & and Rina Estevez-Domondon ‘93 are accomplished professionals in the medical field who chose St. Francis Prep for their daughter, Ashley ‘12 (pictured below), because they knew it was the only Catholic school in the area which offers a vast curriculum for creative pursuits. As one of the many talented art students at Prep, this senior is preparing for college and boasts that SFP’s new Art Education Center is “as good, if not better than some of the college art classrooms” she recently visited.
Emmy-award winning composer Jim Dooley is a 1994 graduate of St. Francis Prep. He moved to Los Angeles to study the art of film composing. In 1999 he began collaboration with the world-renowned Hans Zimmer on Gladiator and as an additional composer, arranger and orchestrator on such notable features as The Da Vinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Ring, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Ridley Scott’s Hannibal and Black Hawk Down. Jim also worked on several animated feature scores such as Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Madagascar I and II, its spinoff short, Madagascar Penguins in A Christmas Caper and the academy-award winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Jim’s music genius and hard work brought him many successes. And yet we can only speculate how St. Francis Prep’s expansive music curriculum and dedicated faculty may have helped nurture Jim’s pursuit of music during his high school years.
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Middle States Association Grants St. Francis Prep Coveted Music Credential
In September 2011 Prep dedicated a new 8,500 square-foot Art Education Center. The center includes over 40 top-of-the-line Apple computers, running Adobe’s Creative Suite and other sophisticated computer design programs. The classrooms were all custom designed to the Department’s specifications with the goal of providing the most advanced high school art education program in the area!
The report recognized the fact that the music program is led by “highly qualified and talented instructors using modern instructional techniques and strategies, which allow all students to develop an appreciation for and an understanding of music as a valuable and expressive art form.”
The Alvernian Drama Society and the Art Department work hand-inhand to produce two first-rate stage performances each year. “Everyone works together to produce some of the most spectacular high school performances.” said Len Antinori, the Chair of the Art Department.
Above: Student-designed posters for the Drama Society’s rendition of “Annie” and “Footloose.” The students donated the proceeds of “Annie” to Covenant House’s program to combat youth homelessness.
In 2010, St. Francis Prep’s Music Program earned the Middle States Association Music Credential during our last accreditation review. It is one of a select few credentials the accreditation agency bestows upon schools in order to recognize “gold standard” programs. The agency cited what many students can attest to: “Prep is a school where students receive outstanding support and are provided education and performance programs that are of superior quality.”
Prep’s student musicians have earned distinction and have performed for audiences both locally and internationally. In 2010, they performed a four-concert tour in London, England and this past summer they performed for audiences in Italy. Recently, several of Prep’s music courses (History of Music, and Principles of Orchestration and Electronic Composition)were approved for college credit at St. John’s University.
St. Francis Preparatory School 2010-11 Annual Report
Bro. Leonard said, “Prep has been fortunate to have so many dedicated and talented students and faculty members across all disciplines. We are especially grateful to all those whose talent and dedication earned us this fine recognition.”