:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/jennifer-lopez-high-school-29_25112019-a38bfd95e2114b579703161e7b6002e5.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1267&ssl=1 "Jennifer Lopez Helps Excessive Faculty Alma Mater amid Proposed Closing")
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- Jennifer Lopez supported her alma mater in an Instagram Tales publish on Monday
- Preston Excessive Faculty in Bronx, N.Y., is about to shut its doorways on the finish of the college 12 months
- College students and alumni have been voicing their disapproval because the announcement
Jennifer Lopez is utilizing her voice for an excellent trigger.
On Monday, April 14, the multi-hyphenate went on her Instagram Tales to share a message of help for her alma mater, Preston Excessive Faculty within the Bronx, N.Y., which is about to shut its doorways on the finish of the college 12 months.
“As a proud alumna of Preston Excessive Faculty, I’m deeply moved to see the scholars, households, and native officers making their voices heard throughout this difficult time. I see and listen to you,” wrote Lopez, 55.
“The help from the group is really inspiring, and I hope they’ll discover a path ahead that honors the college’s legacy. #PrestonForever,” her assertion continued.
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Lopez wrote her assertion subsequent to 2 throwback pictures of her highschool days. One confirmed her carrying a jacket with the college’s emblem, whereas one other confirmed her working monitor.
In line with its web site, Preston Excessive Faculty is an all-girls non-public Catholic school preparatory college based in 1947 by the Sisters of the Divine Compassion. Lopez graduated from the college in 1987, per The New York Occasions.
After saying in February that it was closing its doorways, the Preston Excessive Faculty Board of Trustees doubled down on its determination in a letter on its web site in March, reiterating that it was shutting down “on account of altering demographics, monetary instability and decrease enrollment which has decreased by 30% prior to now 13 years.”
Noting that it had seen an “exterior, concerted effort to reverse the choice,” the board of trustees mentioned, “We should reiterate that the choice to shut is ultimate.”
“The management of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion [the owners of the school] help this determination. We is not going to be entertaining any circumstances that might alter this reality. We don’t need to foster false hope that the continuing ‘save the college’ makes an attempt will reverse the closing of the college,” the letter continued.
The Sisters of the Divine Compassion additionally defended the choice in a sit-down interview with Information 12 – The Bronx.
In line with the Bronx Occasions, final week, New York State Lawyer Basic Letitia James listened to greater than three hours of testimony from numerous generations of girls who attended the college.
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James held the listening to after being contacted by supporters of the college concerning the Sisters of the Divine Compassion’s determination to show down a proposal from the Bally’s Basis to assist save the college, seemingly with none rationalization, Bronx Occasions experiences.
The supply concerned the inspiration shopping for the college for $8.5 million and contributing an extra $1.5 million to restore any “getting old infrastructure,” in accordance with the outlet.
Underneath the supply, the inspiration would lease the property to Preston Excessive Faculty for 25 years at $1 per 12 months, with the choice for the college to purchase it sooner or later. The New York Occasions reported that James mentioned her workplace would supply a “thorough evaluation” of the scenario with the college.
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Whereas the Sisters of the Divine Compassion didn’t have a consultant current on the listening to, a letter was learn on the file during which they mentioned they’d cooperate with the lawyer normal’s inquiry, per the outlet.
PEOPLE reached out to the Sisters of the Divine Compassion for remark.
