With the new school year in full swing, the Prep community comes together once again, embracing some traditions and welcoming some changes. While the upperclassmen and sophomores return back to business, we take a look at the current freshmen class, who are transitioning into high school and experiencing Cathedral Prep in a new limelight.

Although the current sophomores are the first coed class in Prep’s history, they still were able to experience Prep and Villa respectively with the opportunity of shadowing each school before the merge of both campuses. For the freshmen, they never got to truly experience Prep or Villa separately. The Rambler sat down with two newly minted Ramblers to hear more about their experiences and sentiments in a new era of Prep. 

When asked about their initial reaction to news of the merger, freshman James Disanza felt like it didn’t affect his decision in any manner.

“I went to J.S. Wilson for middle school and there you have boys and girls,” James said. “I think it would have been a cool experience for me to go to a school with just boys.”  

On the female side, freshmen Ellen Hutchinson, was worried at first but then grew excited.

“That worry soon changed to excitement once I realized that I would get to stay with majority of my classmates from Our Lady of Peace,” Ellen said.

Many students have unique reasons on attending Prep. For James and Ellen, attending Prep was a no brainer.

“First, Prep guides you to be successful and help you get closer to God,” James said. “Second, I love the soccer program. I got to see their soccer program firsthand for three years because my brother is a senior at Prep. Therefore I went to all of the games and experience what the program was like. Third, Prep felt like home when I shadowed,” James said.

Ellen cited family connections as a major driving factor.

“I chose to attend Prep because my older siblings went there,” she said. “My oldest brother, Hayden, just graduated in 2023 while my older sister, Olivia, just started her junior year. They both had good experiences and made great friends which led me to shadow. I liked the atmosphere of Prep when I shadowed and knew I was going to love attending Prep with my friends.”

Adjusting to life in high school was also a challenge.

“I’ve been in high school for almost a month now, and I’ve had to make some changes, but not that many,” James said. “I knew coming into high school it was going to be way different than middle school for many reasons. One reason being that in middle school. I didn’t get much homework, but I knew going to high school you were going to get a lot, so time management was going to be a big thing.” 

Study skills were a focus for Ellen.

“The main thing I had to adjust when I started Prep was how I studied,” Ellen said. “The classes are harder than my middle school classes and I am still learning to balance school and volleyball.”

With all the events and activities that take place throughout the year, James and Ellen had a few things they were respectively looking forward to.

“There are so many things I am looking forward to this school year, but there is one thing particular that I am most excited for and that is playing soccer for Prep, but most importantly, playing it with my brother,” James said. “For me, I knew it was going to be hard playing soccer at Prep, but I knew it was going to be harder to play with my brother. This is because my brother is a senior and for me to play with him I would have to make the varsity team, which is not easy. But I really wanted to play with Andrew so I had to work hard to play varsity and I got to play with him.”

Ellen has her sights on other big events.

“One thing I am looking forward to this year is Sports Day,” she said. “I have only heard great things about it, and I’m excited to participate!”

In this new chapter in the lives of the class of 2027 and Prep students, the Rambler wishes all students an enjoyable and blessed year as well as a successful start to your high school career.