The School Crest

The shield and motto of St. Edmund Preparatory High School, founded in 1932, reflects a commitment to our historical mission, rooted in the spirit of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, and to the young men and women in our care.

The shield is divided into three main sections.  These sections are representative of the history of St. Edmund as a secondary school. The school opened on February 2, 1932 as St. Edmund Academy, a two-year high school for girls. In 1936 we became St. Edmund Commercial High School, offering a two year commercial program. We then became a four-year high school in 1962 and were renamed St. Edmund High School. It is the history of these three institutions that have brought us to the present; St. Edmund Preparatory High School.

In the lower two quarters of the shield is a Gyronny Cross of the Ordo Praedicatorum, the Order of Preacher. The Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary of Sparkill, New York were the founding order of St. Edmund. It was their dedication, leadership, and service that led the school through its first 54 years of service to Brooklyn.  The Dominican tradition has been the foundation of our educational philosophy, and so the Dominican cross is placed at the base of the shield.

The upper right quarter represents our patron, St. Edmund of Canterbury, the 13th century Archbishop of Canterbury. These symbols come from the insignia adopted by St. Edmund as Archbishop and are a testimony to his great love for the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady. On a blue background are three moons in silver, honoring our Blessed Mother, in her title of the Immaculate Conception. Surrounding them are three red rings representing the Blessed Trinity and signifying the unity of Godhead with human nature through the Incarnation and Calvary. The Dominican Sisters too have, since their founding, had a deep devotion to our Blessed Mother and the Blessed Sacrament.

The upper left quarter contains the escalloped shell, an ancient symbol for the sacrament of Baptism, signifying St. James the Greater, titular of the cathedral of the Diocese of Brooklyn. It also represents the Native American name for Long Island, “Sewanhacky” or Island of Shells, on which Brooklyn and our school is geographically located.

Our motto, Caritas, the need for human compassion and mercy, comes from our Dominican roots.  Our mission at St. Edmund Preparatory High School is to instill the Gospel values in our students.  Compassion and mercy are hallmarks of the Gospels.  We believe that the need for human compassion and mercy is realized when we are in service to others.  Our St. Edmund Prep family believes that Caritas calls us to share our talents and gifts with each other whether in the classroom, through liturgy and prayer, service and outreach to those in need, in our student organizations, on our athletic teams, performing arts groups, and in our everyday lives.