Cougar Courier
June 7, 2025
The 2024-2025 Academic Year Comes to a Close with Field Day
6th graders no more! These guys are now on to the 7th grade.
That’s a wrap for the 2024-2025 Academic Year! They had to wait out ominous morning skies, but Austin Prep middle schoolers celebrated the last day of the academic calendar on Friday with a special field day for Austin Prep Middle School students. View photos from the day here.
Too Soon?
The 2025-2026 Academic Calendar can be Found Below
A few reminders as we look ahead to the start of the 2025-2026 Academic Year. This year our first day of classes (Wednesday, September 3rd) occurs after Labor Day. Schoolwide orientations take place on Tuesday, September 2nd. More details regarding the upcoming year will be sent by the Office of Academic Affairs in early summer. The full academic calendar can be found here. This calendar contains information pertinent to key dates in the academic calendar as well as holidays and vacations.
Summer and Fall Information Coming Soon
The Bletchley Riddle (7th and 8th grade), The Red Bandanna (9th grade), and The Worlds I See (10th, 11th, and 12th, grade) are the summer reading books for 2025. All students entering the 6th grade will select and read one Stuart Gibbs' novel of their choice.
Despite the academic year having come to a close, we are already hard at work preparing for next year. In the coming weeks, you will receive an email from the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Student Life containing important details to help you prepare for the fall, including summer academic assignments. Stay tuned!
McCafferty '26 Named Gatorade Massachusetts Baseball Player of the Year
Austin Prep welcomed WBZ/CBS News Boston to campus Wednesday for a story on Bradley McCafferty ‘26 being named the 2024-25 Gatorade Massachusetts Baseball Player of the Year.
In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade announced Austin Prep's Bradley McCafferty '26 is the 2024-25 Gatorade Massachusetts Baseball Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes McCafferty as Massachusetts' best high school baseball player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Gary Sheffield (1985-86, Hillsborough High School, Florida), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Konnor Griffin (2023-24, Jackson Preparatory School, Mississippi).
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior catcher led the Cougars to a 20-2 record this past season. McCafferty batted .367 with two home runs, 23 RBI and 22 runs scored, posting a .474 on-base percentage, .550 slugging percentage and1.024 OPS. He also threw out 36.8 percent of would-be base-stealers, cutting down seven runners in 19 attempts. A two-time All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council selection, McCafferty is ranked as New England’s No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2026 by Prep Baseball Report and No. 3 in Massachusetts by Perfect Game.
Austin Prep welcomed Nick Giovanni of WBZ / CBS News Boston to campus Wednesday for a story on Bradley, which will air Friday, June 13th at 6:00 p.m. You can view photos from the day here.
McCafferty has volunteered locally at a rehabilitation center and as a youth baseball coach. “McCafferty was very good against us,” said Phillips Exeter Academy head coach Tim Mitropolous. “He’s a stud and a very good player. First-class kid as well.” McCafferty has maintained a 3.47 weighted GPA in the classroom.
He has verbally committed to play baseball at Duke University beginning in the fall of 2026.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field – and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport. As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.
Save the Date for Parents' Retreat
Join Sister Maria at the Austin Prep Parents’ Retreat, which will take place on Thursday, September 18th.
We are delighted to invite you to our second annual Austin Prep Parents’ Retreat, which will take place on Thursday, September 18, 2025, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on campus.
This special retreat is modeled after the Augustinian Values Institute Retreat—an annual gathering for faculty and staff at Augustinian schools that deepens understanding of what it means to teach in an Augustinian environment. Similarly, the parent retreat helps families explore the values shaping their children’s education. Rooted in the core principles of veritas (truth), unitas (unity), and caritas (love), it offers a meaningful opportunity to pause, connect, and grow spiritually alongside fellow Austin Prep parents.
At Austin Prep, retreats are an integral part of our formation program for students and faculty, providing sacred time for renewal, community, and deeper purpose. By extending this experience to parents, we affirm our belief that formation is a shared endeavor and that the strength of our community is rooted in the unity between school and family.
Whether this will be your first time attending or you joined us last year, we hope you will consider participating. For now, we encourage you to save the date—a registration form will be shared in the coming weeks.
Austin Prep to Host Tennis Training Program
Austin Prep Varsity Tennis Coach Chrissy Cerretani to coach Tennis Training program this summer.
We are excited to announce in addition to our current Summer program opportunities, we have added the Austin Prep Tennis Training program. Click here to register.
The APTTP is a high-performance tennis training program for student-athletes in grades 5-12 who are actively pursuing, or are currently, USTA tournament or varsity-level tennis players. The APTTP consists of daily on-court fitness, agility, and strength training, high-performance strategic drills, and match play with coaching. Positive mental toughness skills, practice, and match preparation, as well as individual tournament pathway topics, will also be covered with student-athletes in attendance.
Austin Prep Tennis Training Program session will run on the following dates and times.
Session 1 June 23 - July 3
Session 2 July 7- July 17
Session 3 July 21 - July 31
Session 4 August 4 - August 14
Days & Times :
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
Time 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Tuesdays: 12:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m.
Fridays: No Program
Cost $890.00 per session
Instructor: Chrissy Cerretani
Austin Prep Varsity Tennis Coach
Learn More About the Austin Prep Fund
Learn more about the Austin Prep Fund! The Austin Prep Fund is the School's most vital source of annual philanthropic support. Running from July 1st to June 30th, this fund is more than just a financial resource; it’s a powerful expression of our community’s belief in the transformative power of an Austin Prep education. Your gift matters. It sustains our traditions, fuels our future, and shapes the leaders of tomorrow. Please remember to make your gift by June 30th! Click here to give.
Next Volume of 101 Willow Now Available
Students in Art and Design Faculty Ms. Nicolle Renick's yearbook class have completed the fourth edition of their online magazine entitled "Willow 101." All writing and design was completed by students, as well as some of the photos. Willow 101 is published twice a year. Take a look here.
Stay Connected with us this Summer on Social Media
This is the final Cougar Courier of the academic year, but be sure to keep up to date with all the current events at Austin Prep this summer by following us on our official social media accounts below:
Anchored in Christ, We Ventured in Hope...
Have a great summer, Austin Prep!
A prayer offered by Sr. Maria Gorreth Nassali, Assistant Head of School for Mission and Ministry:
Heavenly Father,
As we conclude this academic year, we come before You with grateful hearts. Thank You for the abundant blessings You have poured out upon the Austin Prep community. We lift up our administrators, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and students in appreciation for their dedication, sacrifices, encouragement, and unwavering commitment to building a community rooted in veritas, unitas, and caritas.
Lord, as we reflect on this year’s theme—“Anchored in Christ, We Venture in Hope”—help us to remain firmly rooted in Your love. May Christ be the anchor that steadies us through uncertainty and the hope that leads us forward with courage, joy, and faith.
We pray for rest and renewal during the summer months. Bless our students, educators, and staff with peace, restoration, and new energy for the journey ahead. We ask Your continued blessings upon our parents, benefactors, and all who support our mission.
We entrust to You the successful completion of all summer projects. Grant wisdom, safety, and strength to the hands and hearts involved in preparing our campus for the year ahead.
As St. Augustine reminds us: "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."
May our hearts always rest in You, and may our mission always be anchored in Your truth.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.