School Notes

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School-related news from around the archdiocese.

High School
Academy of Mount St. Ursula senior Ermelinda Vushaj has been working with the 52nd Precinct Law Enforcement Exploring Program in the Bronx since 2010. Ermelinda, who holds the rank of sergeant, has received numerous awards for her volunteer service. Her honors include certificates of achievement for completing the 2014 and 2015 Law Enforcement Academy and citations from the New York State Assembly for outstanding commitment to the 52nd Precinct. She has learned about U.S. Marine Corps training; search and arrest procedures as well as other law enforcement topics. Ermelinda, an honors student at the Bronx girls’ high school, is active in Student Council, National Honor Society, theater production, basketball, volleyball, softball and martial arts. She attended the 2015 People to People Leadership Summit at Harvard University. She is applying to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she plans to study law and commit herself as an Army cadet. 


For the second year in a row, Don Settanni, a certified public accountant who heads his own firm and is a 1973 alumnus of Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, shared his knowledge with students in the school’s personal finance classes. Settanni is a member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council and the board of trustees at St. Patrick’s parish in Yorktown Heights, and is president of the charity “Special Kids of New York,” based in Katonah. He is married and lives in Somers. Each year he donates iPads to winners of an essay contest. This year, Spellman students were asked to write about how they would use their iPad if they won. The winners were seniors Brianna Manns, who is interested in animation and will use the iPad for art projects, and Joseph Gallo, who is interested in music and will use the iPad to produce songs.


At Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie, juniors Marlie Frisco and Abby Weeks organized a collection of children’s pajamas for Abraham House in the Bronx, which provides services to incarcerated individuals and their families. With the assistance of the school’s mathematics department, the students collected more than 250 sets of pajamas.

Elementary School


Detective Steven McDonald spoke about faith and forgiveness with more than 75 students in grades 5 to 8 at Visitation School in the Bronx on Dec. 15. On July 12, 1986, then-Officer McDonald survived an on-duty shooting in Central Park, which left him a quadriplegic. He has since become a noted public speaker. Following the presentation, students were able to ask Det. McDonald about his message of peace and nonviolence and how he copes with paralysis. Visitation principal Christopher White, a retired NYPD officer, said that Det. McDonald’s message was an important one for his students, particularly during the Year of Mercy.

Send school-related news to Juliann DosSantos at jdossantos@cny.org.