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St. Bernard Preparatory School is a private Roman Catholic day school and boarding school in Cullman, Alabama. It is run independently of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama by the Benedictine monks of St. Bernard Abbey, located on the same campus.

History

Colonel John G. Cullmann, a German immigrant founded the town of Cullman in 1873. He promoted the town among other German immigrants. Benedictine Monks came to the city from Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in the 1880s. A number of these monks had come from Bavaria, in order to serve this German-speaking Catholic community. They established St. Bernard Abbey on September 29, 1891, named after St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

In 1891, they also started St. Bernard College on the monastery grounds, educating boys from grades 6-12. The state chartered the school in 1893. While primarily a prep school, it sometimes granted bachelor's degrees.

In 1929 the Board of Trustees added a junior college. In 1949, this became a senior college. In time, the college discontinued the preparatory school and in 1976 merged with a local women's college to become Southern Benedictine College.

Over the years, the school and abbey has also educated candidates for ordination through its seminary programs from high school through graduate studies.

Southern Benedictine College was closed in 1979, however, the institution reopened in 1984 as a coeducational college preparatory school, serving grades 9-12 (these grades became the Upper School in 2007). The Upper School is primarily housed in the Cullman-Swisher School Building, which was refurbished in 2009. Grades 7 and 8, the Middle School, were added in 2007. The Middle School is located in Founders' Hall.

Athletics

As a member of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, the school competes with public and private schools in football, cross country, basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, softball, and tennis.

Boys' sports:

• Baseball
• Wrestling

Girls' sports:

• Cheerleading
• Volleyball

Co-ed sports:

• Basketball
• Cross Country
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Bowling

References

1. NCEA. "NCEA School Locator". Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
2. AdvancED. "AdvancED-Find Accredited Institutions". Retrieved September 24, 2015.
3. "Facts and Figures". St. Bernard Preparatory School. 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
4. ^ "History: St. Bernard's Prep". November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
5. "Lost Colleges: St Bernard College". Retrieved February 23, 2022.
6. SBP. "St. Bernard Prep History". Archived from the original on December 19, 2006. Retrieved May 9, 2007.
7. "Athletics – St. Bernard Preparatory School". www.stbernardprep.com.

External links

• School website

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama
Ordinaries	Bishops Joseph Gregory Vath Raymond James Boland David Edward Foley Robert Joseph Baker Steven John Raica
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Paul, Birmingham Parishes St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church, Huntsville Shrine Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Hanceville
Education	High schools Pope John Paul II Catholic High School, Huntsville Holy Family Cristo Rey High School, Birmingham Holy Spirit Catholic School, Tuscaloosa John Carroll Catholic High School, Birmingham Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, McClellan Independent school St. Bernard Preparatory School, Cullman
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• Catholic secondary schools in Alabama
• Schools in Cullman County, Alabama
• Educational institutions established in 1891
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• Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama