“The 154 Year Success Story of an Inner City School Making a Difference”
Rev. Edwin D. Leahy, O.S.B. became the 23rd Headmaster of St. Benedict’s Prep in 1972. He graduated from St. Benedict’s Prep in 1963. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from Seton Hall University in 1968 and a Master’s in Divinity with distinction in 1975 from the Woodstock College at Union Theological Seminary, New York. In 1966 he took his first vows as a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Newark and was ordained to the priesthood in 1972. Fr. Edwin began his work at St. Benedict’s Prep in 1967, teaching biology and religion and assisting with the wrestling and football teams. Following the decision by the then-larger community of monks to suspend the operation of St. Benedict’s (effectively close) in 1972, Fr. Edwin, then 26, was chosen by the remaining stalwart group of monks, interested parents, alumni and friends to lead the reopening of the school as soon as was feasible. Under his direction, the School opened its doors again in 1973 with 89 students and 14 faculty members, including thirteen monks who re-committed themselves to the school’s mission of serving young men from largely low-income families in Newark.
