BY LINDA MOSS AND JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITERS | THE RECORD
NORTH ARLINGTON — Queen of Peace High School announced Tuesday it had surpassed a $1-million fundraising goal to avoid being closed — less than six weeks after launching its Save QPHS Campaign.
The school was scheduled to be closed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark last Thursday, but with just $70,000 to go before reaching its goal, it won a two-week reprieve.
“Against all odds, the Queen of Peace family has responded to this campaign with extraordinary resolve and generosity,” said Father Mike Donovan, pastor and president of Queen of Peace High School.
The school, founded in 1930 and with a most-recent enrollment of 375 students, informed the community in late May that it was in financial straits, a situation revealed by an audit earlier this year. It was told it needed to raise $1 million by last Thursday or it would be shuttered.
The campaign to save the school was launched on May 26, and alumni have been scrambling since then to raise the money, led in large part by Randy Pearce, a North Arlington native who serves as borough attorney. Donovan said that as of Tuesday, more than 1,325 individuals and businesses had raised more than $1,035,000.
The campaign was able to reach its goal with the help of two historically large gifts from members of the class of 1980, Donovan said. Tom Klein, the president of Sabre Corporation, gave $250,000, and Jeanette Cern, the owner of Hormone Harmony, gave $200,000.
Related: Queen of Peace H.S. in North Arlington needs to raise $1M in a month to stay open
Email: moss@northjersey.com and norman@northjersey.com
The NJIC extends their congratulations to the fund raising efforts of all of the QP alumni, students, families, teachers, coaches, administration and staff for their efforts to keep the school open and to serve the educational community. A job well done!
