2018 New Rochelle Seniors Accepted By All 8 Ivy-League Schools

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The New Rochelle High School Class of 2018 has marked a rare achievement — all eight Ivy League colleges have accepted at least one of the school’s graduating seniors. With acceptances rolling in, 13 members of the class have chosen to become freshmen at seven of the Ivy League schools. Columbia University accepted two members of the class, but both have chosen to attend other schools.

“New Rochelle is one of the best-kept secrets in the state of New York,” Principal Reginald Richardson said this week, as many students sported sweatshirts from the colleges they will attend to celebrate their acceptances. “We are able to provide a quality education that helps our students get into highly selective colleges and we also prepare them to be successful in these competitive environments. Coming from a large, diverse school district helps them navigate so they are prepared to be successful and they are able to engage with people in all walks of life and advocate for themselves.”

“This is amazing,” said Brea Watkins, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania. “I’m really proud of everyone. It’s such a great year for academics. I think that we all worked so hard, I’m so happy that we’re all sitting here today.”

Valedictorian Elijah Pomerantz had his pick of top schools and was accepted by Princeton, Harvard and Columbia universities. He chose Princeton, making him the first NRHS senior to accept enrollment in the New Jersey college since at least 2011, according to NRHS Director of Guidance Gregg Sloane.

Randall St. Louis, the salutatorian, will attend Harvard University.

Cornell University will receive six of the class members: James Calano, Sofia Halpern, Zahra Masih, Andrew Sirota, Justin Sirota and Dana Walters.

Two soon-to-be-alumni will attend Yale University – Samuel Pekats and Andrew Sorota. Kimberly Collins will attend Brown University and Kiera Jackson will attend Dartmouth.

Sebastian Gonzalez was accepted by New York University has decided to attend Columbia University.

CORRECTION: This article was changed from its original version to correct the school Sebastian Gonzalez will attend. He will be attending Columbia University. Patch received inaccurate information and regrets the error.

Photo caption: Back row, from left: James Calano, Randall St. Louis, Kiera Jackson, Samuel Pekats, Andrew Sorota, Elijah Pomerantz. Front row, from left: Andrew Sirota, Brea Watkins, Kimberly Collins, Zahra Masih, Dana Walters, Justin Sirota. Photo credit: City School District of New Rochelle.