FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 26, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 27
NYC Catholic schools to stay open despite public schools shutdown
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Queens College ranks eighth nationwide in moving
low-income students from poverty to prosperity
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens College has been ranked eighth
nationwide by CollegeNET for how eff ectively
it enrolls students from low-income
backgrounds and graduates them into
well-paying jobs.
Th e college is one of only three New
York schools to be ranked in the top 10
CollegeNET, which provides web-based
on-demand technologies for higher education,
released its fi ndings on Th ursday,
Nov. 19, in the 2020 Social Mobility Index
(SMI).
“It comes as no surprise that when
it comes to economic mobility, Queens
College — now in its 83rd year of serving
the people of New York — is making
a larger impact than virtually every
other college in the country,” said Queens
College President Frank Wu. “When our
students — rich in ambition, talent and
creativity — are given the advantage of
a high-quality, world-class faculty, they
become the backbone of our city and state
workforce.”
Th e Social Mobility Index (SMI) measures
the extent to which a college or university
educates economically disadvantaged
students (with family incomes below
the national median) at lower tuition
and graduates them into well-paying
jobs. Data are collected from third party
sources including the U.S. Department
of Education’s College Scorecard and the
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data
System (IPEDS).
City University of New York (CUNY)
and California State schools dominated
the top 25 institutions among the nearly
1,450 institutions that were ranked.
Th e 2020 SMI is being released at a time
when it has been reported that “COVID-
19 is disproportionately aff ecting lowincome
students, forcing them to abandon,
delay or alter their pursuit of a college
degree and the potential that degree
provides for social mobility.”
According to Wu, Queens college students
are community-conscious citizens,
thriving professionals, job creators and
productive taxpayers.
Queens College students live or work in
the metropolitan region, anchoring their
neighborhoods, contributing to longterm
growth, more than paying back the
investment the city and state made in
their education.
“It is more vital now than ever that
we continue to provide hard-working
students a pathway to improving their
economic standing, so that they may
strengthen the economy of our city, state
and nation,” Wu said.
Queens College fi rst opened its doors in
the fall of 1937 with the goal of providing
a fi rst-class education to students from
all fi nancial and ethnic backgrounds,
an education that would lift them from
oft en humble circumstances to becoming
active and prosperous participants in the
American Dream.
radomenech@qns.com
@AODNewz
New York City Catholic schools will
remain open for students and staff ers in
spite of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision
to temporarily shut down public schools
as COVID-19 numbers continue to rise,
superintendents at the Archdiocese of
New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn
announced.
Th e Archdiocese of New York oversees
172 parish schools across ten counties
including the boroughs of Staten
Island, the Bronx and Manhattan while
the Diocese of Brooklyn controls 69 K-12
schools and academies in both Brooklyn
and Queens.
“Catholic schools operate independently
of New York City public
schools,” Superintendent of Schools for
the Archdiocese of New York Michael J.
Deegan said. “Catholic schools will remain
open until our Health and Safety Task
Force, working with offi cials from the New
York State Department of Health and the
governor’s offi ce, determine otherwise.”
Catholic schools have been open for
in-person classes fi ve days a week since
September and have adhered to a strict
set of health and safety guidelines, according
to the Archdiocese. Church leadership
closed schools on Staten Island earlier
this month aft er city offi cials reported
the COVID-19 positivity rate over a
seven-day rolling average for parts of the
borough reached an alarming 5.2 percent,
prompting state offi cials to designate most
of the island into a yellow zone.
In October, Governor Cuomo
announced a cluster-zone strategy to control
and eliminate small outbreaks across
the state which involves designating areas
with increasing numbers of the virus red,
orange or yellow zones. A series of restrictions
on schools, gatherings, religious
institutions and business operations correspond
to each color.
Th e Archdiocese blamed the short transition
to remote learning on the city for
failing to provide parish schools in the borough
with suffi cient COVID-19 tests to
abide by state testing guidelines. Per state
rules, in order for schools located in yellow
zones to stay open, school administration
must test at least 20 percent of all students
and staff ers for COVID every week.
“I am frustrated that the mayor’s
announcement was made as Catholic
schools and academies throughout
Brooklyn and Queens were dismissing
our students,” said Dr. Th omas
Chadzutko, superintendent of Catholic
Schools for Diocese of Brooklyn. “I want
to make it clear to parents, teachers, staff
and students that the mayor’s announcement
only pertains to New York City
public schools. We have worked tirelessly
to ensure that our school community
remains safe for everyone, and we will
continue to ensure strict compliance with
all health and safety protocols.”
kids & education
Courtesy of Queens College
Photo by Linda Rosier
/WWW.QNS.COM
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