Honors for Roosevelt High School

The students, teachers and staff at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers were in the spotlight on Dec. 1 when Mayor Mike Spano joined with Yonkers Board of Education President Rev. Steve Lopez and Superintendent of Schools Edwin M. Quezada at the school to present the School Spotlight Award for December.

There was plenty of praise not only for the school”™s achievements with Roosevelt”™s Early College Studies program, but also for the way the Roosevelt students and staff welcomed and worked with the 600 students and staff of Family School 32 who came to Roosevelt after they had to leave their school because of a fire on Oct. 28.

Roosevelt students were paired with the elementary school students and assisted them by monitoring indoor and outdoor activities, distributing lunches and escorting the students to their buses during dismissal.

“When our students step up to care for and look out for the well-being of another without hesitation, we know we are fostering well-rounded and exemplary young people,” Spano said.

Roosevelt”™s graduation rates have remained consistent at 94% or better for the past four years. Programs at the school offer students the opportunity to complete their high school studies while simultaneously earning between 24 to 60 transferable college credits toward an associate”™s degree in college. This has a double benefit of reducing college tuition costs while increasing high school graduation and college completion rates.

“At Roosevelt, Principal DeChent and the entire faculty designed programs aligning college courses to career pathways and nurture every student as they earn a high school diploma,” Lopez said.

Quezada added, “It was magnificent observing the ease in which the Roosevelt students and staff embraced their additional responsibilities on Oct. 28.”