Rooted in Hard Work and Gratitude: A4’s Impact on Current Prep Students

St. Joseph’s Prep is fortunate to have a program like the African American and Latino Alumni Association (A4). Recently, Alonzo Jones ‘03, Vice President of A4, spoke about the recent reconstruction of the program, as well as the goals and challenges moving forward. 

When Jones was a student in the A4 program, he was fortunate to have opportunities and mentors that impacted his experience at St. Joe’s Prep and his future life and career. Sometimes, his mentors provided a different kind of support than he anticipated receiving. 

“One time I went to Mr. (Hayward) Ratliff ‘78 after a poor performance on a math test expecting a hug, but got some tough love instead,” recalled Jones, who laughingly said, “and I needed it.”

Coming to the Prep was not always in the cards for Jones. He was going to follow in his father’s footsteps and attend Roman Catholic High School, until an encounter at a choir concert in seventh grade with Ratliff changed his trajectory. 

“After that, I went home and told my parents I wanted to attend the Prep. My dad told me to sleep in the basement that night,” Jones shared. 

The students from the A4 program he encountered before starting at the Prep gave him the confidence to start his freshman year the right way, even if they “turned my backpack inside out before telling me to have a great day.”

After the Prep, Jones went to Neumann University and continued on to Arcadia University, where he received his master’s degree. He continued to stay involved with the Prep, but was disheartened to learn that the Prep administration no longer deemed the A4 program “necessary.” It came to a culmination for Jones and his counterparts at an end of year awards ceremony, where “none of the guys knew each other,” a vast contrast from his experience at the Prep during A4’s peak. 

Jones and his fellow Prep alumni felt compelled to revive the A4 program. When current Prep president Mr. John Marinacci began his tenure in the summer of 2021, they were one of his first meetings. Marinacci fully supported their efforts, and went so far as to give them full access to our building and students. 

“Within a week of that meeting, we had our own office and ID badges to get into the building,” said Jones. 

They resurrected the infamous A4 college tours, traveling to Fordham University, and then to Washington D.C. and Boston. They hosted a welcome back barbecue before the school year started to allow the students to familiarize themselves with one another. They instituted a Kickin A’s program on Saturday mornings that included tutoring, mentoring, and socializing. 

“We meet the students where they are at,” Jones said, emphasizing that A4 members attend sporting events, theater performances, concerts, and anything else their students may be a part of. 

Not only is A4 impacting the lives of our students, but they are also impacting the institution as a whole. Former Director of Admissions Howie Brown incorporated A4 into recruiting visits, Open House, and other events where they are given the platform to get in front of prospective students. Because A4 is unique, St. Joe’s Prep benefits in attracting families interested in the holistic support of their sons. 

“Parents have reached out to me and said they are cancelling other high school visits and sending their kids to the Prep because of A4,” shared Jones. 

Jones talked about how schools in the area have attempted to begin their own version of the A4 program, and the struggles these schools have faced in getting their own program off the ground. 

“Other schools have reached out to the Prep about starting a similar program to A4, but they failed because perhaps they did not have the passion, the lived experience that we have, or the will-power to see it through,” Jones recalls. “There was a blueprint. We lived it.”

Now that A4 has been reestablished and is successfully running programming, the officers have big plans for the future. Some of the goals they have include setting a national template for other schools and expanding the current offerings. However, Jones said the biggest problem they face is having enough members to help them, and their students, achieve their dreams. 

“We need more hands to grow how we want to,” says Jones. “That’s our dream. That’s what Mother Prep taught us.”

One of the most successful endeavors this year was the first-annual HBCU Symposium in October 2025. Jones said the idea was sparked when parents reached out to them about their relationships with HBCUs across the country. Thus, the idea for the symposium was born. They delayed their initial plan for an entire year in order to make sure it ran smoothly. 15 HBCUs from around the country, more than three hundred students, and over a dozen surrounding schools brought students to this event. It also garnered local and national media attention, including a full spread in the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

“That’s what we are most proud of this year, and we are entirely proud of what it is going to turn into,” Jones reflected. 

A4’s success is a culmination of the efforts of Jones and many of his counterparts, and their future is assured because of their stability, hard work of people like Jones, and willingness to adapt to the changing needs of their students. The Prep is certainly lucky to have people like Jones, who aim to make the same impact on current students that his mentors had on him.