OP Stories

Rally for the Rams is a day-long giving event dedicated to all things Blue and Gold! OP's inaugural 24-hour Day of Giving will be held on Thursday, March 4th, 2021. It is a day when we celebrate our founding, continued growth, and future at Oratory Prep. On this day we invite our entire community - alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends to show their support for current students by making a gift to the 2021 Rally for the Rams Fund.

Congratulations to two of our students who have won Scholastic Art Awards! Robert Grasso won a Gold Key for his photograph entitled "Covered in Diamonds" and Brandon Franks won several awards for his outstanding pottery: Gold Key awards for both "Golden Rays" and "Black Stroke Red", plus 2 Silver Keys and 2 Honorable Mentions. The Gold key masterpieces will be on virtual display at the Montclair Art Museum starting in February. Scholastic Art and Writing awards have recognized some of America’s most celebrated artists while they were teenagers: Andy Warhol, Zac Posen, Robert Indiana, & Ken Burns. A jury of professional artists and curators reviewed over 3000 works of art and the pieces awarded were at the top amongst their peers.

The Mock Trial team advanced to the Union County Finals last week with a win over Kent Place. The Championship is scheduled for Thursday evening. OP's Defense Team is made up of attorneys Will Sanyour and Logan Drone, and witnesses Steve Rotolo, Chris Rieman and Will Dondero, and the Prosecution team is made up of attorneys Joe Marchese and Aidan Philbrick, as well as witnesses Will Heffernan, Max Terraciano, and Brendan Kleinle.

Congratulations to seniors Lucas Pavlounis and Aidan Philbrick on being awarded the Archdiocese Parish Youth Discipleship Award. The award is presented to outstanding high school teenagers who have responded to the call of discipleship through service or ministry to their parish or school community. Mr. Van Hoven was also awarded, being selected for the Parish Adult Light of the World Recognition Award, which goes to an adult who has demonstrated a commitment to young people and youth ministry in their parish or school. Well done!

Congrats to Eric Gun '24 on winning the World Champion title and the first ever Gold Medal for Team USA in the Cadet Male division! Team USA has not had a gold medal in any division, Cadet (12-14), Junior (15-17) and Senior (18-30), until Eric's historic victory. As this is Eric’s last year of Cadet, he dreams of winning another title of World Champion in 2022 as a Junior and ultimately, he wants to be a grand slam winner of all three divisions, which has never been achieved. He kept his cool, composure, and was focused and motivated throughout this one month long competition.

Eric Gun '24 and Team USA made a historic achievement in the Poomsae World Championships Preliminary Round. There were a total 196 athletes in Eric’s division, and 96 advanced to Semi-Final, with Eric advancing 1st in his group. Only 8 out of 96 will remain to compete in the Finals, which will air next weekend. Team USA has never won Gold in World Championships in Cadet Male division which Eric is representing.

Congratulations to Coley Snyder '21, who recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He is with troop 67 in Summit. His Eagle Scout Project was a prayer garden to honor veterans at Saint Teresa of Avila Cemetery in Summit. Coley also earned the Bronze Palm distinction.

View our Rams Run Together Reopening Plan which enables students and teachers to return to campus every day for full school days.

The First Annual OP Rams Run Together Virtual 5K will take place the weekend of Nov. 6 - 9, 2020. This will be the only fundraiser for the Parents' Guild in 2020. We are hoping for great participation from all parents, students, faculty & alumni to make this a success! Click the headline to register! Sign up on the website to start your own fundraising team. Personalize it, set a goal, then send your fundraising link to all your friends to support this great cause! There are NO registration fees. More details on the event are on the website. Let's have fun while we raise money to support OP!

We are proud to announce that seniors, Liam Henderson and Lucas Pavlounis, have been named Commended Students in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. They have been recognized for their exceptional academic promise demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the qualifying test used for program entry. Over 1.5 million students took the 2019 Preliminary PSAT/NMSQT last October. Of these, 50,000 were identified as highest scorers and 34,000 of that number, received the Commended Student designation. Congratulations!