Catholic Schools in the News

Principal of Our Lady’s Catholic Academy in Ozone Park Featured in Daily News

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Principal Kevin Coyne has been nominated as a Hometown Hero in Education by the Daily News for his work at Our Lady’s Catholic Academy, which is thriving and growing as enrollment declines at many other Catholic schools.

Coyne had about 260 students when the academy opened five years ago. By September, the school in Ozone Park, Queens, will have more than 700 kids from 68 countries. Coyne credits his success to an individual approach to students.

“I tell every parent when they register that every child is an individual creation of God,” Coyne told the Daily News. “And we meet them where they are. It’s our job as educators to learn what their needs, and strengths are.”

To read more about Coyne and Our Lady’s Catholic Academy, see the full article in the Daily News.

A Swingin’ Education

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Read it at The Tablet!

The seventh-grade class at Sacred Heart School, Bayside, visited the Alley Pond Adventure Course in Queens. The adventure course is designed to focus on team-building, problem-solving and communication skills through games and low- and high-element activities.

Prior to the field trip, the students had been working on an adventure education unit in their physical education classes culminating in the day at Alley Pond.

“I think adventure education is an important unit in physical education,” said Jackie Flynn, physical education teacher. “It steps away from traditional units such as soccer or basketball and focuses on teamwork and problem-solving, which are skills the students will use throughout their lives.” Read more »

I.C.S.: ‘Best Little School in the Heart of Astoria’

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by Marie Elena Giossi       Read it on The Tablet website here.

School will be back in session soon, and while some will lament over the end of summer, Eileen Harnischfeger isn’t one of them.

The principal of Immaculate Conception School (I.C.S.) is excited to reunite with the students and teachers who, she says, make I.C.S. “the best little school in the heart of Astoria.”

ICS ScienceLocated on 29th Street and Ditmars Boulevard, I.C.S. is a neighborhood institution, where generations of local Catholics have sent their children since the doors first opened in 1924.

Twelve years ago, Harnischfeger became the first lay principal after having taught kindergarten and computer classes at the school for Read more »

Whiz kid said no to $480G in Ivy aid

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4 Jun 2013 | New York Daily News | DENIS HAMILL

READ IT ON THE DAILY NEWS WEBSITE HERE

Sal Cocchiaro knows numbers.

He just graduated as valedictorian of St. Francis Prep with a 100.7 average and won $480,000 worth of scholarships from seven Ivy League-caliber colleges. But this middle-class Bayside, Queens, kid chose a full four-year ride at Fordham University — just 30 minutes from home and family.

So how did the 17-year-old wind up with a 100-plus average? Read more »