2 Lansdale Catholic Seniors, Neumann Scholars To Be Honored

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Catholic Education (OCE) has announced that 37 graduating seniors will be recognized by the Connelly Foundation at a Celebration of Excellence, which will include a celebratory luncheon at Saint Joseph’s University.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 24.

“The Neumann Scholars in the graduating Class of 2016 have very bright futures ahead of them in college and beyond. We in the Office of Catholic Education along with their parents, teachers, administrators, and loved ones are immensely proud of their accomplishments to date," said Sister Maureen McDermott, I.H.M., Ph.D., Superintendent of Secondary Schools, in a statement.

The Connelly Foundation Neumann Scholars Program was launched in 1994.

his scholarship program identifies academically talented eighth grade students through an independently administered competitive examination and provides four year scholarships to attend any of the 17 high schools of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Each year approximately 35 scholarships are awarded.

The distribution of the scholarships is determined by the number of students who sit for the Neumann Scholarship Test in each county.

The scholars achieved the following accomplishments::

· These Neumann Scholars rank within the top 3% of students in the Archdiocesan high schools

· Five rank number one in their respective high school classes

· SAT Critical Reading and Math scores average 1447 with a high score of 1600

· Two students are National Merit Finalists and ten students are National Merit Commended Scholars

These graduates have been accepted to prestigious colleges and universities including the following institutions:

• Baylor University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Boston College Saint Joseph’s University
• Bryn Mawr College Swarthmore College
• Bucknell University Temple University
• Case Western Reserve University U.S. Military Academy – West Point
• Drexel University University of Notre Dame
• Fordham University University of Pennsylvania
• LaSalle University University of Pittsburgh
• Lehigh University University of Virginia
• Penn State University – Schreyer Honors College Villanova University

Local students are listed below:

CHESTER COUNTY

Bishop Shanahan High School, Downingtown

Stephen Anderson

R. Joseph Blajda, Jr. – National Merit Commended

James Hennessy – National Merit Finalist

Salena Ringenbach – National Merit Commended

Joanna Skros

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Lansdale Catholic High School

Shannon Cikowski – National Merit Commended

Maggie Hansell

Pope John Paul II High School

Beck Fuga – National Merit Commended

Cassandra McHugh

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY

Archbishop Ryan High School

Nicholas Novotny

Daniel Quedenfeld

Adrian Toledo

Father Judge High School for Boys

Ryan Green – National Merit Commended

John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School

Grace Bridy – National Merit Commended

Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls

Jamie Galanaugh

Roman Catholic High School for Boys

Michael Frye – National Merit Finalist

Brendan Guy – National Merit Commended

Daniel Seddon

Philemon Tedros

Brandon Texeira

Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls

Katy Vieira