Catholic high school graduates in Central Jersey receive more than $113 million in scholarships

CENTRAL JERSEY – After years of hard work and unexpected challenges, the 455 graduates of the four Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Metuchen, who together amassed more than $113 million in scholarships and awards, have reached the culmination of their high school careers.

Across the four Catholic high schools – Immaculata, St. Thomas Aquinas, Mount Saint Mary Academy and Saint Joseph – graduates of the Class of 2022 averaged $248,400 in scholarships and awards per student, totaled approximately 42,467 hours of service over the course of their four years, and have achieved a 100 percent college acceptance rate, with an average of 87 percent of graduates receiving scholarships and awards.

The graduating seniors who received the 2022 Bishop James F. Checchio Award for Religion are: Olivia J. Gaibor of Immaculata High School; Olivia I. Rivera of St. Thomas Aquinas High School; Jerrine George of Mount Saint Mary Academy; and Colin M. Formisano of Saint Joseph High School.

Seniors at Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen, were the first to graduate in the diocese this year, marking the occasion with a graduation ceremony on May 22. More than $38.8 million in scholarships and grants were awarded this year among the 114 graduates of Saint Joseph High School, a private, Catholic all-boys college preparatory school run by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. The Class of 2022 accumulated over 3,450 hours of service over the course of their four years and 100 percent of graduates will continue their studies at a college or university.

Valedictorian Aayush Agnihotri will study computer science at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and salutatorian Matthew DaSilva will attend Brown University in Providence, R.I., where he will pursue a degree in applied mathematics.

The St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Edison, Class of 2022 was the next to graduate during a May 25 commencement ceremony. Founded in 1969, the diocese’s co-educational college preparatory school was, until recently, led by two Franciscan Felician Sisters, and will now be led by a dedicated team of lay administrators, faculty and staff, and a diocesan priest, who serves as the full-time Director of Catholic Identity at the school. With 97 percent of graduates planning on continuing their studies at a college or university, the school’s 162 graduates earned $29 million in scholarships and awards and, over their four years, accumulated 23,577 hours of service.
 
Valedictorian Shivali Vora will pursue economics, biochemistry and public health at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., while salutatorian Vera McCoy plans to study biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

The 78 graduates of Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, who in total were awarded $24 million in scholarships and awards, celebrated their commencement on June 4. All graduates of Mount Saint Mary Academy, a Catholic, private all-girls high school owned and operated by the Sisters of Mercy of the Mid-Atlantic, will continue their studies at a college or university.

Valedictorian Diana Neste will study in a STEM-related field at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Salutatorian Jerrine George will also study in a STEM-related program at Seton Hall University in South Orange.

Seniors of Immaculata High School, a co-ed college preparatory high school lead by a dedicated team of lay administrators, faculty and staff, and a diocesan priest, who serves as the full-time Director of Catholic Identity, graduated during a June 3 commencement ceremony. Over the course of their four years, the Class of 2022 accumulated 14,000 hours of service and 100 percent of graduates will continue their studies at a college or university.

Valedictorian Victoria Lauren Coey will pursue a degree in choral music education at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fl., and salutatorian Olivia Jeannine Gaibor plans to study international studies at Boston College in Newton, Mass.

Addressing Bishop James F. Checchio, who was present at all four commencement ceremonies, the diocesan priests present, school administrators, teachers, and families, Immaculata High School valedictorian Victoria Lauren Coey told her fellow graduates it is expected that they might be nervous or overwhelmed, but she encouraged them, reminding them that their Catholic school education provided them with the greatest advantage: the gift of faith.

“This gift is capable of assisting us through difficult times in college and beyond: a gift far greater than the education we received in the classroom or the memories we made, and the gift is faith,” she said. The faith that Catholic schools have “infused in us these last four years affirms the truth that we are not alone because Jesus is in our midst. He will be there to celebrate our victories and to lift us up during our lowest moments,” she continued.

“Turn to Him, no matter how long it’s been, what you’ve done, or what you’re going through,” Coey urged, “because the Cross stands as evidence that He will never abandon you. It is this faith-filled message that we must carry with us more than anything.”

She added that as Catholic school students, they were “given faith, the greatest gift imaginable, and so it’s our duty to use this gift to make a difference, to be, in the words of Matthew 5: 13-16, ‘the salt of the earth and a light for the world.’ Being a Christian in a society that seems to be increasingly separating itself from God is a challenge, but it’s our calling. There’s a lot of chaos beyond these walls, as I’m sure we’re about to experience, but [our Catholic schools have] prepared us to be a force for good.”

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Metuchen are now enrolling for fall 2022. With outstanding academics and well-rounded programs, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Metuchen offer a faith-filled environment, where every student is known by name. For more information about enrolling your child or to find out how you can help support the privately-funded programs which provide tuition assistance to aid low-and moderate-income families within the diocese, please visit diometuchen.org/schools or call (732) 562-2446.