Malvern Preparatory School

Malvern Preparatory School, commonly referred to as Malvern Prep, is an independent Catholic middle school and college preparatory high school for boys located in Malvern, Pennsylvania within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The school was started and is still run by Order of Saint Augustine. Malvern Prep is a member of the selective Inter-Academic League which also includes Episcopal Academy, Germantown Academy, Penn Charter, The Haverford School, and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

History

Malvern Prep was founded as a preparatory academy on the campus of Villanova University in 1842 at the Belle-Aire farm, which the Augustinian order purchased in January 1842. The academy was named "St. Nicholas of Tolentine Academy" in 1901.

In 1922, due to the expansion of Villanova's college program and increasing distinctions being made between the attendees of the academy and the college, it was decided to remove the academy from Villanova's campus. The Rosengarten family of Malvern sold a 143-acre (579,000 m²) part of its old farm between Warren Avenue and Paoli Pike to the Augustinians, and the academy became Malvern Preparatory School. The property included the site of the Paoli Massacre, a Revolutionary War battlefield that Malvern Prep owned until 2000, when it was purchased by the federal government. Only two original buildings were suitable for classes and are still preserved; these are the original farmhouse (Austin Hall) and another farm building (the Friary, or Alber's Hall). Three new buildings were built in 1924 to house the need for more space. The first graduating class of Malvern Prep, who were almost all boarders, graduated in 1927.