Celebrating the Future: Mariners Prepare for What’s Next

It has been a joyful and memorable year for Saint Monica Preparatory’s Class of 2026, filled with moments like last Friday, when SMPREP proudly celebrated the senior class during College Decision Day with a festive ice cream social on the schoolyard. Students signed an “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” banner and gathered in college sweatshirts representing their exciting journeys ahead.

From University of California, Berkeley and University of Notre Dame to Emory, UCLA, USC and Vanderbilt, seniors proudly showcased the colleges and universities where they will continue their academic journeys after graduation on Friday, June 12. Mariners are heading to campuses across California and throughout the country, including Pepperdine, California Polytechnic State University, Loyola Marymount, UC San Diego, Brandeis, Syracuse, Ole Miss and Oregon, with several students earning full academic scholarships. Others will pursue creative passions at renowned institutions such as NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design, Otis College of Art and Design and SCI-Arc.

At the same time, SMPREP’s AP Capstone students are concluding an impressive year of college-level academic work. Under the guidance of Dr. Janelle Peters, nearly 40 AP Seminar students and 13 AP Research students recently completed formal presentations and examinations centered on original research projects exploring topics ranging from political polarization and nutrition to economics, sports science, artificial intelligence and fast fashion. Throughout the process, students worked alongside mentors and professionals from fields including medicine, engineering, psychology and technology, gaining valuable experience in research, public speaking and analytical thinking. Together, these accomplishments capture the spirit, ambition and community that define the Mariner experience.