You’ve Got a Friend in Me: Lawrenceville Prefects

When students arrive at Lawrenceville, they enter more than a dormitory. They step into a House community intentionally designed to support them. From the first days on campus, they are surrounded by a circle of adults and peers working together to ensure they feel known, welcomed, and steady in a new environment. Among that team are Fifth Form prefects, student leaders selected and trained to help younger students navigate daily life in the Houses.

Fifth Form prefects live alongside students in all Second-Fourth Form Houses. They are selected not for popularity or résumé lines, but for steadiness, judgment, and care. Their role is both simple and significant: to help newer students adjust, feel known, and understand how life in the House works.

Heads of House say those qualities are often visible long before a student is chosen. They look for strong and authentic connections, students who are kind, approachable, and genuinely interested in the wellbeing of others. The most successful prefects are often calm presences in busy spaces, able to be fun and relatable without losing their sense of responsibility. As Head of Hamill House John Giannikas said of Hamill prefect Andrew Hurlock ’26, “He’s approachable without being permissive, authoritative without being intimidating. Someone who listens first, guides thoughtfully, and leads by example rather than instruction alone.”

For a new student, that support often begins informally, a conversation after study hall, a check-in during the first week, someone noticing when the day feels heavier than expected. Cleve House prefect A.J. Diallo ’26 described the role as “building a home, one small interaction at a time.…You create the conditions for community to grow: facilitating study halls, checking in when someone is struggling, and navigating conflicts with the utmost care.”

Prefects help orient new students and support House activities. They help set the tone of how students treat one another, how disagreements are handled, and how expectations are upheld.

Assistant Dean of Students Holli Olson describes them as “the pulse holders and the culture keepers of our Houses.” The phrase is intentional. Prefects are not disciplinarians. They are peer leaders trusted to model steadiness and maturity in everyday moments.

That trust is reinforced by structure. Preparation begins soon after selection and continues throughout the year. Prefects meet weekly with the associate dean of students to discuss challenges, practice scenarios, reinforce boundaries, and support each other. Other campus leaders, including the School’s counseling staff, are often invited to share their expertise.

“We want them to really understand that we’re in this together with them and make sure that they know that the adults are there to support them,” said Associate Dean of Students Lindsay Mulhern.

Balancing peer relationships with responsibility requires mature judgment. Thomas House prefect Marco Pellegrini ’26 said accessibility and being physically present in the House are priorities.

 “The biggest thing is to establish yourself as someone that can be easily approached,” he said. “It’s great to joke around with our prefectees and have fun in the House, but it’s important to be able to reign it in.”

The shift to prefect for students remaining in the House they lived in as a student during their Third and Fourth Form years, now in a new role, can be complex.

“They have to come back as a leader because they’re working with people who are their friends,” Mulhern said. “We talk to them about how that shift happens, setting boundaries, how you need to now impose the rules and expectations for the people in your House.”

Dawes House prefect Anne Clifford-Levy ‘26 noted that while she never picks sides in an argument, she’s always available to listen and share her own experiences. “Listening is always more impactful than offering advice. When they know I have gone through a similar situation, it empowers them to know they can get through it as well.”

McClellan House prefect Jael Gaines ’26 believes small acts matter most. “Being kind goes a long way,” she said. Letting students know she has faced similar challenges—or “helping them to feel as though what they are going through is not impossible”—can ease the transition into a new environment.

Prefects are also trained to recognize when a situation requires adult involvement. “If something feels out of my hands, I won’t hesitate to let a trusted adult know,” Pellegrini said. “I’m still a high schooler and sometimes an adult perspective is needed.”

For many prefects, the most meaningful moments are not dramatic interventions but gradual change. Gaines said “just seeing my prefectees every day and learning new things about them” is deeply rewarding. “I love McClellan so much, and I love being a prefect so much that the reward is simply being able to help these girls become better and watching them change and develop like a big sister.”

That balance, peer closeness paired with adult partnership, is what makes the system work. Younger students have someone close in age to approach, while experienced adults are equally and actively engaged. For new students, that means the first person they turn to may be someone who has recently lived the experience themselves and who now stands at the intersection of peer trust and adult partnership.

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.