Immaculate High School In Danbury Graduates 60th Anniversary Class

**News Release Submitted by Immaculate High School**

June 13, 2023

Immaculate High School graduated its 60th class during a special anniversary alumni weekend marking its founding in 1962.

Create your own happiness – that was the message by Principal Wendy Neil to the Mustangs graduating. “When the judgment of others or negative voices become too loud, seek the support of those in your life that are positive,” said Neil, reminding students they had created wonderful support networks of friends at Immaculate. “You have no room for people who only look to critique and complain.”

Ninety-one seniors received their diplomas on June 3 at 11:00am on the athletic fields known as Mustang Valley behind the school. The Class of 2023 also attended a Baccalaureate Mass earlier in the week. Immaculate has been providing a rigorous Catholic prep school education to 28 communities in New York and Connecticut since 1962. Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito, Deputy Superintendent Stacy Stueber of the Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic Schools, Immaculate Board of Directors Chairperson Joseph Draper, Chaplain Philip Phan, President Mary R. Maloney and Principal Wendy Neil spoke at the event.

President Maloney told graduates to turn to their faith for strength and commended them for their accomplishments, especially through the pandemic. ”Know that we are exceptionally proud of your resiliency and the legacy that you leave us at Immaculate,” she said. “ You have made a positive impact for others and collectively you have been awarded an amazing $23.6 million in scholarships and grants.”

Stacy Stueber of the Diocese of Bridgeport told students to “Be active in doing good. Volunteer in your community, be of service in your church, be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves or simply be a kind presence in someone’s life.”

The commencement was part of a milestone 60th Anniversary All-Alumni Reunion on June 2-4, 2023. The weekend included a Robert E. Gerwien, Sr. Scholarship Endowment Breakfast at the Amber Room Colonnade. Gerwien is a long-time former principal at Immaculate High School. Golden Mustangs, alumni from the classes of 1966-1973, were invited to process with the 2023 graduates at the Immaculate Commencement Ceremony.

Anna Kopec of Bethel, CT is the Class of 2023’s Valedictorian and Olivia Esposito of Danbury, CT is the Salutatorian. Of the 91 members of the graduation class, 100% of students who applied to colleges and universities were accepted and were awarded scholarships and grants totaling $23.6 million. The top 10 percent of students achieved an SAT score average of 1,398.

Valedictorian Anna Kopec will be attending the University of Connecticut, Storrs where she will study Cognitive Science – and plans to earn a Doctorate in Computational Neuroscience after that. She just learned that she received the Presidential Scholars Award at UConn. Kopec is President of Immaculate’s Science National Honor Society chapter, as well as a member of the National Honor Society, National English Society and National Society of High School Scholars. She was the first-prize winner of the 2023 Angeles T. Arredondo Foundation STEM Scholarship Award, 2022 Cornell Book Award, 2022 Scholastic Fine Arts and Writing Awards, Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Bronze), Student of the Month in Fine Arts, Gold Key and Silver Key in the Connecticut Scholastic Art Awards. Kopec has her own online graphics business and is an avid figure skater in her free time.

Salutatorian Olivia Esposito will be attending Wesleyan University where she will be studying economics, American politics and possibly film. She hopes to pursue a career as an economist or businesswoman. She is a member of the Mu Alpha Theta Math National Honor Society, National Honor Society, National English Honor Society and Rho Kappa Social Studies National Honor Society. Esposito was the Vice President of Immaculate’s Writing Club her senior year. She received the University of Rochester’s George Eastman Young Leaders Award, a PSAT/NMSQT Honorary Commendation, IHS President Award for the High School Placement Test, Isabelle T. Farrington and Officer Donald J. Hassiak Memorial Scholarships and three Presidential Awards for 100 Hours of Community Service (two Bronze and one Gold). She is an active volunteer at the Pegasus Therapeutic Horse Farm and also an avid tennis player.

Cole Ross of Brookfield was named Immaculate High School’s Student of the Year for the 2022-23 school year. He will be attending Syracuse University and was a member of the school’s Track and Cross Country Teams, making the second team of the South West Conference (SWC). Ross received the award for consistently demonstrating school spirit and dedication to IHS, strength of character and faith in action through kindness to others and a passion for learning and going beyond what is expected, including encouraging others to do their best. He was the editor of the yearbook and a talented graphic designer who created many of Immaculate’s sports and Stable fan graphics over the past few years.

The remaining students rounding out Immaculate’s Top Ten are Julianna Chronakos of Brookfield who will attend Boston College, Julia Cirone of Newtown who will attend the University of Connecticut, Aiden Doolabh of Danbury who will attend Waseda University in Tokyo, Alyssa Hartnett of Ridgefield who will attend Muhlenberg College, Michaela Martin of Ridgefield who will attend Boston College, Angela Pacheco of Danbury will attend Wake Forest University, Grace Soltis of Newtown will attend Trinity College and James Toscano of New Milford will attend Sacred Heart University.

Giving Back

The Immaculate High School graduating Class of 2023 contributed more than 4,319 hours to a school-wide total of 20,777 hours of community service this year and many students were honored and/or received scholarships from many local community service organizations and the Diocese of Bridgeport for their service and academic achievements. The Gold Award for performing more than 250 hours of community service this year was awarded to Isabela Davalos of Norwalk. Domenico LeRose of Sherman received a Silver Award for performing 175-249 community service hours. And ten members of the senior class performed 100-175 hours of service and were recognized with a Bronze Award (Matthew Butera of Redding, Jack Cappiello of Newtown, Dylan D’Angelo of Brookfield, Sophia Font of New Milford, Declan Foye of Danbury, Kayla O’Marra of Bethel, Abbe Radigan of Ridgefield, Kerry Tuccinardi of Bethel, Sofia Velez of Danbury and Xinyan “Tracy” Yu of Danbury).