At the invitation of Cardinal Cushing, Austin Preparatory School was founded in 1961 by the Augustinian Friars of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, and opened its classrooms to students in September 1963. Austin is, in fact, an abbreviated form of the name Augustine, and so our name does carry on the legacy and acknowledges our debt to St. Augustine and his followers, the Augustinians. Saint Augustine is the School’s patron saint, and we as a school community, strive toward the Augustinian ideal of: “One mind, one heart, intent on God.”

Since 1973, Austin has been led by a lay Board of Trustees as an incorporated Catholic independent day school. Augustinian priests continued to serve Austin in a number of capacities until 1992 when the remaining priests were re-assigned by the order. Currently our faculty of 57 men and women includes two priests, and one Dominican sister.

Austin Prep opened a Middle School Program in September of 1987 in order to extend our services to a wider population. The School further expanded in 1992 by offering admission to young women for the first time in the school’s history. Today, the School enrolls just over 700 students in almost an equal split between young men and young women. Of this number we enroll 200 students in the Middle School and 500 in the High School. Our student body is geographically diverse, coming to us from over 55 cities and towns in Northeastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.

Austin offers a rigorous liberal arts curriculum, with low teacher:student ratios, flexible course placement and a unique Phase System which looks at students academic abilities and places them accordingly in the college-preparatory program. We strive always to challenge our students to perform at their highest ability level while offering strong academic support and instruction both in and out of the classrooms. We consider our parents to be full partners in this important enterprise, and we are proud of the family tradition at Austin, which is manifested and nurtured by an increasing number of legacy enrollments, including siblings, cousins and sons and daughters of our alumni.

We welcome your thoughts and encourage you to visit our school to learn more about all that we offer.

Thank you for your interest in Austin Preparatory School, we look forward to your visit!