2023 De La Salle Award: Mr. Jeff Pratt

May 23, 2023

Vice Principal and Dean of Students named 2023 De La Salle Award Winner!

The De La Salle Award is presented each year to a member of the Bishop Kelley faculty or staff who particularly exemplifies the qualities and characteristics of Saint John Baptist De La Salle, founder of the Christian Brothers and patron of all Christian teachers.

Candidates considered for this award are known to have

witnessed to Gospel values and principles and
exhibited the spirit of faith and zeal characterized in the life of Saint John Baptist De La Salle.

Mr. Pratt has been a member of the Bishop Kelley Community for over 20 years. After spending 11 years teaching middle school science and having completed his Master’s degree in Educational Administration, he was encouraged by his friend at church, who was a BK employee at the time, to apply for an open position at Bishop Kelley when the friend saw his patient and effective way of negotiating a sale with a street vendor.

Certainly, that relational knack is still in the wheelhouse of this year’s winner as he balances care for students with simultaneously providing them clear direction in times of personal difficulty. He encourages but is not afraid to direct.

When our President, Sister Mary Hanah Doak, RSM, recently asked Mr. Pratt what has kept him at Bishop Kelley for so long, he replied, with a gentle note of affection in his voice and visible on his face, that it is the students. As his peers on the faculty have noted, there are some students who simply can only make it through a Bishop Kelley education with his help.

Mr. Pratt is a hallmark of stability for the school as he welcomes students in the hallways, calls them in for dress code checks, manages drug testing, navigates disciplinary situations, assists teachers, cares year-round for the plants in the STC, and wizzes past all of us on his golf cart.

Mr. Pratt converted to the Catholic Faith after teaching at BK for seven years and takes Saint John Baptist De La Salle as his personal model of Christian holiness.

Anyone who is in meetings with Mr. Pratt knows that he carries his purple book of De La Salle’s Meditations ready to lead a prayer at any moment. He recently shared that he looks to Saint John Baptist De La Salle as the perfect example of a Dean of Students. Principal Jim Franz summarized Mr. Pratt's giftedness by saying, “In my thirty-five years as a Catholic school administrator, I have never worked with a Dean of Students who can balance realistic discipline, nurturing direction, and student encouragement better than Jeff Pratt.”

Congratulations, Mr. Pratt!

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Bishop Kelley Named to Advanced Placement Gold Honor Roll

January 15, 2026

Bishop Kelley High School was recently named to the Gold Advanced Placement Honor Roll by the College Board . The AP Honor Roll program works to acknowledge schools around the United States that help students achieve excellence while maintaining broad access to challenging curriculum. According to the College Board, Honor Roll schools, “Reflect a commitment to increasing college-going culture, maximizing college readiness.” The award also recognizes the broad access to advanced classes especially for students in underrepresented populations. The AP Honor Roll distinguished schools in three main areas: college culture, college credit and college optimization. Seventy-two percent of Bishop Kelley students in the Class of 2025 took at least one AP class and test during their time at the school. Fifty-eight percent earned college credit by scoring at least a “3” on one AP test and thirteen percent of the class took at least five AP tests through their four years of high school. All three of these indicators show an increase from previous years for Bishop Kelley. Two hundred and fifty-seven Bishop Kelley students took a record six hundred and twenty-six Advanced Placement (AP) tests in May, 2025 with an extraordinary 85% scoring “3” or higher. Nineteen percent of Bishop Kelley test takers scored the highest possible “5” on their exams, the equivalent of “Extremely Well Qualified” according to the College Board which administers the international testing. A “5” equates to an A+ or A in college level classes. Internationally, only 9% of all tests earn a “5” score. Another thirty-six percent of Bishop Kelley students scored at the second highest tier, a “4,” equal to ”Very well Qualified,” a level only achieved by twenty percent of all testers. The record number of exams for Bishop Kelley students cover a wide range of disciplines including science, math, English, social studies, fine arts, world languages and business. The largest number of tests for Bishop Kelley students included one hundred and thirteen AP English Language and Composition students, followed by eighty-six students who took the AP United States Government test, and seventy-one who took the AP United States History exam. Bishop Kelley students scored the highest average on the second-year AP Precalculus exam with a school mean score of 4.6, followed by AP Physics I with a mean score of 4.3. In the 2024-2025 school year, Bishop Kelley offered AP tests in twenty-four different subject areas. The Advanced Placement program is sponsored by the College Board. Research has proven that students who take AP classes are more likely to enroll in and complete four-year colleges.