Academics

Learning Services

The Learning Services Department works with students to develop the skills, habits, strategies, and mindsets necessary to help them actualize their full potential -- at the Prep and beyond. By taking a proactive approach to academic support, students are given everything they need to achieve their personal potential.
Prep Advantage
Prep Advantage is a four-year (plus, as it starts prior to freshman year!) academic support program whose goal is to empower young men who have drive and work ethic, but need the appropriate support in recognizing their strengths as they work to improve their areas of weakness.  Students may be selected for the Prep Advantage Program through recommendation in the admissions process, or through a separate interest form.  The Prep Advantage academic support program ensures that all students have the chance to benefit from and thrive in all the amazing components of a Prep education. 
 
Using a number of targeted strategies and resources, the Learning Services Team supports and encourages students in the Prep Advantage program to rise to the various challenges they may encounter during their Prep experience. For freshmen in particular the following major structures are in place:
 
  • Pre-9th Prep Program. A five-week intensive academic program in the summer before freshman year officially begins. Students take four academic classes (English, Mathematics, Science, and Latin) over five weeks, form lasting friendships, and familiarize themselves both with the campus and the academic demands of the Prep.

  • A year-long, cohort-based course and one-on-one meetings with academic counselors give students the skills and opportunities they need to find sustainable success. The typical freshman course load is slightly alleviated by delaying the world language component of the school’s curriculum until the sophomore year. In its stead, students in the program take a study skills and executive functioning course in the way of Freshman Advantage. There, students benefit not only from explicit instruction but from regular meetings and check-ins with various Learning Services members acting in the capacity of academic advisors and instructors.
 
Beyond the freshman year, students in Prep Advantage continue to meet with the Learning Services Team, once or twice a week in a group setting as well as additional one-on-one meetings as needed. Knowing that sophomores are still, in many ways, continuing to adjust and adapt to the Prep, students in their second year in the program receive their own group meeting time while juniors and seniors have their own distinct support spaces within, and outside of, community hour as well.
Who is Prep Advantage for?
The program is meant to support bright, motivated Prep students who might need or desire additional support in their launch to the Prep. The ultimate goal of the program is to provide its graduates with the tools necessary to succeed at the next level of their education.

What is covered in the Prep Advantage Curriculum?
Prep Advantage will take a comprehensive approach to supporting students in a variety of areas specific to executive functions using their school work and classroom content to focus their efforts. Students will receive help with their planning, organization, time management, and student skills. 

Is the summer program required?
Yes, the Prep does require all students that have been accepted into or identified for the Prep Advantage program to attend a five week summer session the summer prior to their freshman year.
Academic Support
While the Prep emphasizes a proactive approach to Learning Services, there are times when additional academic support is needed. As a result, we regularly review students’ grades and work closely with students’ guidance counselors to ensure our students are being supported en route to their success. 
Learning Services Programs

Homework Club
The Homework Club meets daily from 2-4 p.m., in the Howley Learning Commons to help students get a head start on their homework. We know that organization is crucial, so we help students organize their assignments and allow them to begin their assignments in a focused and supportive environment. In addition to Learning Services personnel, students have access to National Honor Society Peer Tutors.
 
Peer Tutoring
The National Honor Society Peer Tutors are available to students year round both in-school, during Community Period, and after school, at the Homework Club.

List of 3 items.

  • Mr. Kevin Gregorio

    Director of Learning Services

    Mr. Gregorio began his professional education journey teaching at Mercy Vocational High School in North Philadelphia. From there taught at Gwynedd Mercy Academy and then later in West Philadelphia where he directed a middle school reading intervention program at a charter school. An expert on the science of learning, Mr. Gregorio helped to create the school’s Learning Services Department and has overseen its implementation and growth. A graduate of the University of South Carolina (BA., English) and Saint Joseph’s University (M.Ed.), Gregorio is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Psychology from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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  • Mr. Frank Rocchi

    Coordinator, Prep Advantage Program

    Mr. Rocchi has worked with under-served, exceptional and neuro-divergent learners for many years and believes that grades and success (inside the school or outside it) are not a result of your native intelligence. Students' mindsets, habits, self-advocacy, and resilience will be the primary factors for grades in the present, and success in the future. A graduate of Temple University (B.A., English and English Language Writing) and Relay Graduate School of Education (M.A., Teaching), Mr. Rocci coordinates the successful Prep Advantage Program, which offers academic support for students entering the school
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  • Ms. Sydney Theis

    Academic Support Coordinator

    Ms. Theis came to the Prep in 2023 from her native Michigan, where she worked for several years as a teacher and support specialist. As a student at Aquinas College, she worked as a peer consultant at the school’s writing center before going on to teach writing at a middle school. She then moved to Lansing Catholic where she worked in Student Support. At the Prep, Ms. Theis, who is pursuing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Saint Joseph’s University, coordinates the academic support program which includes peer tutoring.

Address

1733 W. Girard Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19130
Phone Number: (215) 978-1950

Resources

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