Faith & Student Life Overview
At Holy Spirit Preparatory School, we integrate the faith and morals of the Catholic Church into every aspect of school life. We are committed to the truth of Jesus Christ and convinced that the Gospel is the source of our happiness and salvation. Inspired by this vision, we teach our students in accord with their dignity and to assist them in responding to their vocation to holiness.
Integrating Our Faith into Daily Life
In seeking to provide an education which is integral and complete, Holy Spirit Prep seeks to build a culture of joy in the campus life. As such, the life of the campus is shaped by the liturgical seasons and feasts of our Catholic Faith. We rest on Holy Days, receive candy in our shoes for St. Nicholas's day, meditate on the Stations of the Cross during Holy Week, weekly attend Mass, go on class retreats, and celebrate First Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation as a school community. The beauty and joy of our faith in Jesus Christ is essential to the integral education and formation offered at Holy Spirit Prep.
Fostering Leadership and Developing Character
Our campus culture is marked, as well, but opportunities for student leadership and growth, through and in our House system and thriving clubs & apostolates. We form students to serve, and not to be served, as they learn to build a flourishing culture of life where every student is respected and loved as made in the image and likeness of God.
A Culture of Dignity and Respect
That respect extends to our student handbook and expectations of discipline and comportment. We have a uniform and an expectation that cell phones be off during the school day, for instance, to help engender an environment of learning and eliminate distractions.
The dignity of each human person and the beauty, truth, and goodness of our studies and faith permeate the culture and life of the school. In everything, our motto, ministrare non ministrari, to serve and not to be served, shapes the life of the school.
Preschool
Our Preschool seeks to ground our students in the joyful practice of the Catholic faith through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS). We believe that even the youngest children can have a relationship with God – and that this relationship is best cultivated by the experience of beauty, prayer, and the sacraments.
CGS centers around “the atrium,” an intentional space that helps facilitate spiritual growth. Designated exclusively for CGS presentations with hands-on activities, the atrium encourages students to learn about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with a child-sized altar, chalices, and cruets.
Lower School
The Lower School at Holy Spirit Preparatory School provides countless opportunities to connect and enrich the spiritual lives of our students, faculty, and families. Our primary objective is to help the Holy Spirit Prep community to grow in the faith of the Catholic Church and encounter the person of Jesus Christ.
Lower School students can put their faith into action with grade-level service projects, virtue formation programs, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Our campus ministry team also serves our 2nd-grade students and their families through preparation classes to make their First Penance and receive the Lord at their First Holy Communion.
Middle School
Shaped by a distinctly Catholic perspective, Holy Spirit Prep’s Middle School strives to foster spiritual growth and the development of a personal relationship with Christ through a robust Theology curriculum and frequent opportunities for participation in Mass, confession, prayer, service, and spiritual guidance.
With a focus on servant leadership, Middle School students can experience and share Christ’s love by planning and leading retreats, acting as altar servers, and participating in House service apostolates (which includes volunteering in the community).
Middle School students also participate in a Virtue Program to learn the practice of virtue. In partnership with parents, faculty, and campus ministry, leaders work with each Middle School student to develop a personalized Formation Plan, in which students set goals and objectives in four key areas: Academics, Spirituality, Personal Development, and Service.
High School
Grounded in the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church, our high school curriculum seeks to form students in the tradition of faith seeking understanding by cultivating an appreciation for the harmony between faith and reason and a commitment to the truth of Divine Revelation.
Outside the classroom, our students can grow in the faith by receiving spiritual direction and participating in the Holy Mass, confession, weekly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, daily prayer, service apostolates, and annual retreats.
Our High School students experience the Sacrament of Confirmation regularly, celebrate weekly Mass as a student body, celebrate May Crowning, and make a senior pilgrimage to Rome, Italy.
Harry and Dinham
We have found the experience to be more than we could have ever imagined for our son. Through the school’s academics, consistent religious teachings, and athletics, Harry found his self-confidence again. The Holy Spirit family of educators has far exceeded any of our expectations. The staff, priest, teachers, coaches, and students have been encouraging and inclusive to a new student coming in making the transition seamless. We are thrilled with Holy Spirit Prep.
Campus Ministry
Our campus ministry helps each student grow in faith and learn to love God and neighbor. Inspired by the words of Christ and the Faith, we are committed to living out our school motto, Ministrāre non ministrārī – “To serve, not to be served.”
Fr. Juan Pablo, along with faculty and staff, offer countless opportunities to enhance the spiritual formation of our students. These opportunities include weekly Mass, prayer services, retreats, and service opportunities at the school and the wider community.
Roadmap to Virtue
The great philosophers of the Christian tradition knew that the pursuit of God wasn’t simply an intellectual undertaking – it was spiritual. To know God well, both the heart and the mind must be shaped through the inculcation of virtue. Here at Holy Spirit Preparatory School, we teach students the practice of virtue by focusing on different virtues at each of the four different developmental stages as they relate to the Sacraments. This, in turn, guides students to live in a way that will ultimately give them happiness in this life and the next.
School Prayer
We pray in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Thank you, Lord, for this day.
Thank you for the blessings you give us.
Thank you for making each one of us in your image.
Thank you for the special blessing of our families.
Help us to remember that you love us.
Help us to remember that you have a special place in your heart for us.
Help us to remember that our school is a communion of souls destined for joy.
Help us to remember that this communion is unique and precious.
Fill us with a faith that will accompany us.
Fill us with a faith that will encourage us.
Fill us with a faith that will inspire us.
Fill us with a faith that will console us.
Grant us magnanimity, a greatness of soul, so that all the other virtues we might
seek to acquire will blossom.
Grant us wisdom and prudence, so that we may make good decisions for the rest
of our lives.
Grant us the development of heart, mind, body, and soul such that we might
excel in your plan for our lives.
And grant that we may all seek communion with you and with one another.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Holy Spirit Preparatory School’s campus is immediately adjacent to Holy Spirit Catholic Church, a parish of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Founded in 1964, this vibrant parish community serves roughly 1,900 households and aims to make God’s Kingdom present in the world. Parishioners support various ministries such as the Knights of Columbus, Knotted Rosaries for the Military, Family Fellowship, Catechism classes, and more to grow in the Faith and serve those within the parish boundary and beyond.