Message
I am profoundly grateful that your generosity supported
Fordham Prep’s faculty to serve on these trips and
develop our students’ skills, deepen their understanding
of what binds the human family together and encourage
their appreciation of our diversity.
Our teachers’ efforts in the classroom received external
validation in rising SAT and ACT scores, outstanding
college and university outcomes for the Class of 2018, and
the 140 students who were named “AP Scholars” by the
College Board. Of those, 62 were named “AP Scholar,” 28
were named “AP Scholar with Honor” and 50 were named
“AP Scholar with Distinction,” including six who were also
named “National AP Scholar.” Your gifts allow Fordham
Prep to recruit, hire, develop and retain faculty whose
care for each student translates directly into outstanding
academic performance and a love of learning that lasts
for a lifetime.
If you made a gift to Fordham Prep in the past fiscal year
(i.e., July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018), you received a note
from our development staff with the wonderful news that
this year’s giving broke all previous annual records. You
gave a collective $9.2 million in philanthropic donations to
Fordham Prep. This extraordinary generosity testifies
tangibly to your gratitude for what you have received or
witnessed—as an alumnus or parent or friend of a
Fordham Prep student. While our Annual Report will offer
a detailed description of your giving, I did not want to
neglect this opportunity to reflect on your generosity and
offer my thanks to you.
A year ago, Fordham Prep launched a new Strategic Plan,
Igniting Our Mission: 2017-2022. Our campaign creates the
resources which allow us to implement this plan. Your
generosity during this, the first year of our plan, clearly
indicates your support for our efforts to keep Fordham
Prep affordable, and help us to prepare students to be
21st century learners and leaders—prepared to set the
world on fire with their creativity, critical thinking, faithful
discipleship, compassionate service and commitment to
justice.
In the first year of Igniting Our Mission, we expanded
exponentially Fordham Prep’s global footprint. In
responding to the Society of Jesus’ invitation to
collaboration among Jesuit schools globally, over 80
students studied, prayed or served on five continents this
year. Learning cultural competence and being exposed to
languages and customs different than their own will have
a lasting impact in our students’ formation as leaders.
4 | RA MVIE W
With respect to service, our students continue to
distinguish themselves in their commitment to share
meals with our Bronx neighbors at POTS, build homes for
the needy in the Appalachian region of Tennessee and
provide opportunities for children at the Working Boys
Center in Quito, Ecuador. In fact, a team of Fordham Prep
students placed first in the Ignatian Social Justice Challenge—
a contest among New York area Jesuit high schools to
advocate and raise funds for a charity that has the
greatest impact on its respective school community.
Because of your support, these experiences are not
limited to students whose families can afford the fees to
participate in these programs or activities. They are
accessible to all students.
This summer, Fordham Prep is renovating several
classrooms as well as our athletic locker rooms. We are
upgrading the Leonard Theatre’s sound system and
working with architects and contractors to plan a major
expansion to our building’s footprint. These projects—all
priorities outlined in Igniting Our Mission—reflect our
commitment to excellence, and are possible only due to
your gifts.
I am pleased and humbled—in fact, I stand in awe—
in recounting your generosity this year. All I can say is
thank you, and share my assurance of our prayers for
you and your family, especially when the Fordham Prep
community gathers to celebrate Mass. Our students are
truly blessed to count you among their friends and loyal
supporters.
Christopher J. Devron, SJ
President