November 2025
In This Issue
- Alumni Director's Note
- Alumni Spotlight | Col. James A. Knowlton '78
- Alumni Baseball Game Recap
- Alumni Red Sox Outing
- Class of 1985 | 40th Reunion
- Class of 2025 | Alumni Breakfast
- Upcoming Reunions
- Alumni Spotlight | Samantha (Sorabella) Hoffman '13
- Alumni Events Schedule
- Faculty and Staff Contribute Collective Gift After Community-Wide Vote
- Save the Date! Celebrate St. Augustine's Birthday and our Day of Giving on November 13
- The Restless Journey Podcast
- Stay Connected
Alumni Director's Note
Dear Austin Prep Alumni,
I hope you are having a great fall season. At Austin Prep, we have settled into the routine of the 2025-2026 academic year. We have been busy creating new opportunities for our alumni community to connect with each other and the school. As I enter my second year at Austin Prep, I continue to be impressed by the great things our alumni are doing beyond 101 Willow Street. Throughout the year we will be highlighting your accomplishments in our Alumni Spotlights section in the Alumni Courier, Journey Magazine, and on the website. As I’ve said before, our alumni are vital to the continued success of the school, and we aim to keep you informed and engaged. I will continue to explore ways to best serve and support you as we go on this journey together. Please reach out to me at any time or stop by to chat over a cup of coffee, you are always welcome.
Sincerely,
Darren Stewart
Director of Alumni Engagement and Giving
Alumni Spotlight: Col. James A. Knowlton '78
Col. James A. Knowlton '78 retired from his role as Director of Athletics at the University of California on July 1, 2025. He held the position for the past seven years. “It has been an incredible honor to serve at the University of California, Berkeley, the No. 1 public university in the country," Jim said. "The expectation of holistic excellence helps to drive everyone associated with the university, and our department is no exception. The combination of a world-class education, athletic excellence, and inclusive community, an awe-inspiring location and, most importantly, truly special people, make Cal a magnificent place to serve.”
Prior to this role, Jim served as Director of Athletics at the Air Force Academy and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in addition to holding administrative and teaching roles at the United States Military Academy. He also held leadership positions for more than two decades in the U.S. Army, including as head of a battalion of 750 men and women while stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, before deploying to Iraq. He served in the Army for 26 years before retiring in 2008 as a colonel. Jim and his wife Corey are excited to retire to Colorado where they will be much closer to their five sons and eight grandkids.
Alumni Baseball Game Recap
The two teams from the inaugural alumni baseball game.
We held our first-ever Alumni Baseball Game and Luncheon on Wednesday, August 13. Past players, friends, and Austin Prep staff had a great time connecting and sharing memories. After networking and lunch, players dusted off their cleats and played to a fitting 2-2 tie. We had two evenly matched teams with alumni from 19 different class years filling out the rosters. Thank you to those alumni who braved the heat and joined us on a day that reached into the mid-90s. We look forward to next year’s game already! View highlights on Instagram.
Alumni Red Sox Outing
Alumni came together on September 17 for a fun night at Fenway Park to cheer on the Red Sox! It was a great opportunity to reconnect with classmates, enjoy some baseball, and share Austin Prep memories in one of Boston’s most iconic settings ending with a Red Sox win! Thank you to everyone who joined us! View photos from the day on Instagram.
Class of 1985 | 40th Reunion
Saturday, November 29, 2025, at Austin Prep
5:00 p.m. Campus Tours
6:00 p.m. Class Photo and Cocktail Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner
If you are a member of the Class of 1985, please click here to register. We ask you to please RSVP by November 15. If you have any questions, please contact Director of Alumni Engagement and Giving, Darren Stewart at Darren.Stewart@Austinprep.org, or 781.944.4900 x4862.
Class of 2025 | Alumni Breakfast
The tradition continues of inviting our most recent alumni back to campus for the Annual Alumni Breakfast the day before Thanksgiving. Members of the Class of 2025 please save the date, Wednesday, November 26 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Dr. Hickey will be sending out an official invitation in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to seeing you all back on campus!
Reunions for Classes Ending in 5 and 0
We look forward to celebrating the reunion classes ending in 5 and 0 this fall. We are currently looking for volunteers to help plan respective class gatherings. Let us help you create a special event to celebrate your milestone reunion with your peers from Austin Prep! If interested, please contact Director of Alumni Engagement and Giving, Darren Stewart at Darren.Stewart@Austinprep.org, or 781.944.4900 x4862.
Alumni Spotlight: Samantha (Sorabella) Hoffman'13
Samantha (Sorabella) Hoffman '13 is the founder and Social Media Director at Capeology. Samantha turned her love for Cape Cod and her passion for social media marketing into a brand and ultimately a business, Capeology. Today she has over 183,000 followers on Instagram and has designed a beautiful jewelry line that includes rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. If you are looking for inside advice on where to stay, what to eat, the best ice cream place, or even where the best engagement spots are on the Cape and Islands you need to check out Capeology. Here are links to her Instagram page and Website. She is extremely talented, and our students were lucky enough to learn from her last April during our Alumni Career Day. Samantha is a true entrepreneur who has taken her passion and brought it to life!
Alumni Events Schedule
- Class of 2025 Alumni Breakfast, November 26
- Class of 1985 40th Reunion, November 29
- Class of 2020 5th Reunion, TBD
- Christmas Tree Lighting at Austin Prep, December 4
- Young Alumni Holiday Gathering, December 11
- Alumni Career Day, April 2026
Faculty and Staff Contribute Collective Gift After Community-Wide Vote
This year's faculty and staff gift to the Austin Prep Fund will fund a remodeled classroom, which will be named in honor of Mr. Stephen Williams.
Austin Prep is blessed with a Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff who not only live our mission but also advance it through their generosity. For years, 100% of our faculty have contributed to the Austin Prep Fund, enhancing each student’s Austin Prep journey.
As we approach our Day of Giving on St. Augustine’s birthday (November 13), faculty and staff were introduced to a new and creative way to direct their generosity: this year, individual gifts to the Austin Prep Fund will be combined into one collective contribution. To ensure the gift reflects the personality and creativity of our faculty, all staff members were invited to submit proposals for unique ideas to be funded through their collective giving.
After receiving and compiling the submissions, 20 distinctive proposals were presented for a community-wide vote.
Please read the unique and inspiring faculty proposals here
We are excited to announce the winning proposal below:
Classroom Furniture and Collaborative Learning Spaces
Description: This proposal focuses on enhancing selected classrooms across the Middle and Upper Schools through updated tables, chairs, and modular furniture that promote collaboration, comfort, and flexibility. The goal is to replace individual desks with larger tables and ergonomic seating that allow for movement and group learning. Modern classrooms thrive when students can easily shift between discussion, project work, and independent study.
By investing in new classroom furniture, we can create spaces that mirror our unitas directive—bringing students and teachers together in a more dynamic, engaging environment. Flexible layouts would encourage creativity, communication, and focus while supporting differentiated learning approaches.
In the spirit of this proposal, this year’s faculty and staff giving will be dedicated to remodeling as many classrooms as funding will allow. Each remodel will feature upgraded modular furniture designed to enhance collaboration, comfort, and flexibility. To make this initiative—and our inaugural staff gift—even more meaningful, the first remodeled classroom will be named in memory of our beloved colleague, Mr. Stephen Williams.
We are grateful for the continued faculty and staff support of the Austin Prep Fund, and appreciate their enthusiasm and thoughtfulness during the proposal and voting process. We look forward to the implementation of the winning proposal!
Save the Date! Celebrate St. Augustine's Birthday and our Day of Giving on November 13
Save the date! On November 13 — and in honor of St. Augustine’s 1,671st birthday, we will be celebrating with our Annual Day of Giving. Each year, Giving Day supports the Austin Prep Fund. The Austin Prep Fund is the primary way for alumni, parents, and friends to support the school and directly impact a student's current Austin Prep experience. Annual support through the Austin Prep Fund empowers the School to annually invest in modern classroom technology, improve campus facilities, provide tuition assistance, develop enriching student programming and co-curricular activities, and enables teaching innovation through multi-dimensional faculty professional development opportunities.
Check Out The Restless Journey Podcast
The Austin Prep Podcast Studio.
This past year, significant investments were made to expand Austin Prep’s digital presence and storytelling capabilities to strengthen Austin Prep’s connection with students, parents, faculty, and alumni. The highlight of this effort was the construction of Austin Prep’s first podcast studio and delivery of the School’s official podcast, The Restless Journey. The studio includes state-of-the-art video, audio, and recording equipment, and an aesthetically pleasing design. The Restless Journey provides a closer look at the people, programs, and initiatives that exemplify Austin Prep’s Augustinian values, and the promise and potential of Austin Prep. The Restless Journey allows members of the Austin Prep community to share their insights on a wide range of topics, reflecting on who we are today and where the Austin Prep Journey will lead us tomorrow.
The podcast debuted in the summer of 2025 with two episodes, one featuring Austin Prep’s Director of Admissions, Lisa Simmons P’24, ’25, ’27, ’30, and another featuring School Chaplain, Fr. Patrick Armano. The show is hosted by Austin Prep’s Director of Communications, Tyler Fleming P’28, ’30. It is anticipated that a new episode will be released monthly during the academic year. The podcast can be found on all major podcast platforms including Podbean, Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube.
“The Restless Journey is another great way for Austin Prep parents, staff, alumni, as well as prospective parents, to get to know the people on campus who help guide our students on a daily basis,” Simmons noted. “We see during the admissions process that families want to get to know community members on a deeper level, and this is a great tool to help get our message out in a fun and meaningful way.”
The benefit of the new space doesn’t stop there, however. While the construction of the space and planning and production of The Restless Journey has been driven by Austin Prep’s professional staff – a collaboration between Austin Prep’s Offices of Communications, Technology, and Facilities – the ultimate goal of the studio is to be yet another valuable educational resource for students, particularly those with an interest in media, communications, video production or content creation.
To start the 2025-2026 Academic Year, a more lighthearted, student-centric podcast is in the works, featuring student guests and co-hosts with discussion topics intended to resonate with the student community. Students will also be trained to work behind the microphones and cameras on the production end. In a day and age where social media, content creation, and new forms of communication are more and more prevalent, this student experience could even lead to career opportunities for students down the road.
“We’ve added the podcast studio to the campus tour offered by the Office of Admissions for prospective families,” Simmons noted. “Our guests are consistently impressed by the space and excited by the possibility that their child could one day be involved in producing their own podcast while at Austin Prep.”
The podcast studio will also give Head of School, James Hickey, Ph.D., an alternative means to distribute community-wide messages in a convenient manner for the recipient. To that end, last spring Dr. Hickey sent a recorded message to the Class of 2020, inviting them back to campus for their upcoming five-year reunion. “Incidentally, this message to you is the first recorded message from Austin Prep’s new podcast studio,” Dr. Hickey said.
You can view all four episodes of The Restless Journey here:
Stay Connected
The Office of Alumni Engagement wants to stay in touch with you and let you know what is happening at Austin Prep, as well as share your personal updates with fellow alumni. Please share updates including academic and sports honors, career milestones, marriages, births/adoptions, or any of life’s other big announcements.
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Alumni group is “Austin Preparatory School Alumni”
