Alumni Events

Alumni Spring Reunion – CANCELLED
The Tampa Prep Reunion planned for May 1 has been canceled due to ongoing concerns about coronavirus.

We encourage you to complete this form to confirm your interest in future reunion events and to stay in the loop on upcoming alumni activities. We wish you well, and look forward to seeing you soon!

Our community doesn’t end at graduation. We don’t need to tell you that Tampa Prep is a special place. But did you know that our culture of innovation and creativity has made us educational thought leaders and Florida’s Most Innovative School?

We hope you will attend Tampa Prep’s 2020 All Class Reunion to reconnect with fellow Terrapins and see what makes us so innovative today. Alumni, faculty, live music, food, drinks and fun are waiting for you at The Vault, a downtown venue affiliated with a Prep family. Alumni from all classes are encouraged to attend, and guests are welcome.

If you can’t make it this year, please know that our doors are always open any time you’d like to walk the “new” halls of your “old” school and relive the unspoken commandment here:  Relax. Try. Learn. Enjoy. Grow.

Many thanks to the following alumni, who are spreading the word as part of reunion committees for those classes celebrating 5-year milestones in 2020. More volunteers are welcome! If you’d like to join one of these groups–or start one for your class–please contact Director of Donor Engagement Maggie Morrison at mmorrison@tampaprep.org.

Class of 1985
Suzy Lassacher
Chris Lohden
Caryn Ballard Ratchford
Michelle Barrett Skelly

Class of 1990
Bump Fahey
Lisl Sollner Unterholzner

Class of 1995
Ali Garrity
Geoff Guidera
Keri Higgins-Bigelow
Becky Mitchell Hunter
Molly Nye
Leanna Taylor

Class of 2000
Ali Russell
Mike Sussman

Back-to-School Alumni Happy Hour
Fall 2020

Kick-off the school year with your fellow Tampa Prep Alumni at our annual Back to School Happy Hour. Complimentary drinks, food and live music in the Smith Black Box Theater on Tampa Prep’s Campus! Take a look at the video below to see what the event is like. We are excited to welcome you all to campus and catch up!

The Smith Black Box Theater was alive with conversation as Terrapins of all ages — from members of the first graduating classes in the late ‘70s to more recent alumni — gathered to connect and reconnect at the Back to School Happy Hour on Friday, September 22. It was Prep’s first time hosting the event and it could not have been more of a success. Live music filled the air as around 80 guests enjoyed cocktails, food and the special relationships that Tampa Prep fosters.

Alumni Board President Chelsea Nauta Colwill ‘07 says of the Prep alumni events she has attended over the years, something about being on campus made the Back to School Happy Hour particularly enjoyable. “People are laughing, having fun and really enjoying themselves,” she says. “I think being back at school has a lot to do with that.”

Some of the attendees had not seen the latest renovations to Tampa Prep’s campus and were taken aback by the stunning additions. It was also a great opportunity to see old classmates and familiar faculty while meeting new Terrapins. Alumni Board member Ryan Muley ’11 says the main point of the event was to bring the School community together, and the mingling he observed on Friday night makes him confident that goal was accomplished. “I don’t think I saw one group of people just hanging out with each other,” he says. “Everyone was moving around the room.”

As a young independent school, Tampa Preparatory School has quickly reached the point where alumni are taking the reins in important leadership positions. “The inmates have taken over the asylum now,” Board of Trustees President Matt Danahy ’79 joked to the crowd. Danahy said he was thrilled with the attendance and would encourage all Prep alumni to continue to stay connected and involved with the School. “One of the things I think everybody needs to keep in mind is you can be more involved in the School,” he says. “You can be the folks who are in charge of the forward progress of Tampa Prep.”

Alumni Holiday Mixer
November 2020

In 2019, the November Holiday Mixer brought downtown Tampa hot spot American Social to near max capacity with around 150 in attendance. But even with the increase in quantity, it is still all about quality.

With a diverse range of interests and whole lot of ambition represented in every graduating class, it’s no surprise that Tampa Prep alumni take their talents around the country, and even the world. That’s why the holiday season, when many Terrapins return to Tampa to visit family, is the perfect time for Prep to host an alumni social.

This year’s Alumni Holiday Mixer was another success with about 90 Prep grads spanning the School’s 43 years enjoying music, drinks and the opportunity to reconnect with friends at Franklin Manor in downtown Tampa. Alumni Board President Chelsea Colwill ’07 also used the event as an occasion to gather members of her class for a 10-year reunion. She says she was thrilled with how many former classmates, about 25, showed up. “I thought it was really fun to reconnect with my class and get to know their spouses, friends or whoever was with them,” she says.

Alumnus Miles Vaughn ’07, who was attending a Prep alumni function for the first time, says he appreciated the convenient timing of the event because it gave him an opportunity to attend while in town for Thanksgiving. “It’s great to see people you haven’t seen a while, and it’s not just the classmates but the administrators and faculty,” he says, noting the relaxed atmosphere.

Now that he knows how great Prep’s alumni events are, Vaughn has no problem recommending them to all Tampa Prep graduates. “If you’re in town, there is no reason for you not to go,” he says. “You’ll see some familiar faces.

Spring Training Event
March 8, 2020

George M. Steinbrenner Field
New York Yankees take on the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 p.m.

Beautiful weather, ballpark hotdogs and America’s pastime set the scene for Prep’s latest alumni get together as dozens of grads gathered to watch the Yankees take on the Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner field. “I thought it was a blast,” Joey Bobo ’10 says. “It was great to catch up with old friends and the baseball game was a great backdrop for that.”

Not only was it an opportunity to bring Prep alumni together — the event was a reflection of our community’s commitment to the School. Thanks to Robert Molloy ’10, we were able to offer this afternoon of fun to our community. It’s occasions such as these that help strengthen our alumni community and Prep as a whole.