Queen Of Peace Gets A 'Go' For 2016-17 School Year

Less than a month after it reached its $1 million fundraising goal, Queen of Peace High School will remain open for the 2016-17 school year, the Archdiocese of Newark announced.

The school needed to raise $1 million in donations by June 30 or it would have been forced to close. Parents, students, alumni, and other sprung into action after they were informed in May that the North Arlington school would close at the end of the academic year.

Rev. Michael Donovan, pastor of Queen of Peace Parish, which operates the high school, lead the fundraising effort. Archbishop of Newark Rev. John J. Myers told Thursday the school would remain open.

"He expressed his happiness over what we have accomplished," Donovan said of Myers. "He also said that he has great hopes for our plan to be more financially stable and to grow enrollment over the next few years.”

More than $1.02 million has been donated to support the school for the upcoming academic year. The school is expected to have 225 students enrolled when classes begin in September, Myers said.

“While there still are hurdles to overcome in the months ahead – including how the parish will seek to resolve the outstanding debt that the high school’s circumstances had created – I am confident that parish and school leadership will work with our staff here in the Chancery to find a solution that benefits all," Myers said.

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