Newark All-Women’s School Graduates 2016 Class: Students Earn $16M In Scholarships

Newark, NJ – Saint Vincent Academy, Newark’s only Catholic college-preparatory high school exclusively for young women, graduated 71 young women at ceremonies held at the school last month.

Following welcoming remarks by Saint Vincent Administrative Director June Favata, class salutatorian Chiamaka Onwunaka of Bloomfield offered an invocation and Adebola Adeagbo of Irvington delivered the valedictory address.

The commencement address was given by Quovella Maeweather Spruill, chief of detectives in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and a 1988 graduate of Saint Vincent Academy.

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“Almost 30 years ago, I sat in your seats,” Spruill told graduates. “Did I know that I would be the first female captain, first female deputy chief and now first female chief of detectives in Essex County? First African-American female chief of detectives in New Jersey? No. But I knew that I had the potential because I was here.”

“You stand straight, you stand strong, because you stand on the shoulders of strong women who have been here in this same place,” Spruill added. “If someone were to ask me what I learned from my alma mater, I would say ‘grit’ – the ability to stick with something to the end.”

According to school news release, every member of the class of 2016 was accepted to and plans to attend college. This year, students earned more than $16 million in merit-based awards and scholarships in addition to need-based aid.

Students will be attending a range of in-state institutions of higher learning, including Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, the College of Saint Elizabeth, Eastern International College, Essex County College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Felician University, Kean University, Montclair State University, Ramapo College, Raritan Valley Community College, Rutgers University in Newark and New Brunswick, Saint Peter’s University, Seton Hall University and William Paterson University.

Out of state choices include Albright College, Bryant University, the College of Mount Saint Vincent, the College of Saint Rose, Johnson and Wales University, Lehigh University, Mount Holyoke College, Parsons School of Design, Pennsylvania State University, Syracuse University, University of Bridgeport, Wellesley College and Youngstown State University.

Salutatorian Chiamaka Onwunaka will attend Villanova University and Valedictorian Adebola Adeagbo will attend Howard University.

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Photo: Saint Vincent Academy