An Open Letter To The Board of Trustees of Trinity Hall

We applaud your support of education in the Catholic tradition. We oppose your desire to establish a permanent campus in the Chapel Hill neighborhood of Middletown.

You believe that you are being exceptionally generous in endowing a new school. You are not. This is not philanthropy. This is ego.

Your ego demands that you create something new, something that will be your legacy, something that you can brag about at cocktail parties. You are well educated, presumably intelligent people. Yet, you have allowed your ego to overcome your business sense. This is not a good investment and you know it. Your own feasibility study made it clear that the demographics are not in your favor. "The potential pool of female students in the general population of Monmouth County is projected to decline for the next decade and possibly two decades." Apart from the feasibility study is the undeniable fact that Catholic schools have been closing across Monmouth County at an alarming rate.

Despite all this, you insist on destroying a quiet, peaceful neighborhood. We don't want the increased traffic, weekend track meets or drama club performances. Please take your ego and your money and renovate an existing, abandoned Catholic school. It will not destroy our neighborhood. It will cost less and you can divert the savings into more spending on teachers and programs for the students. Isn't that what education is all about? Your legacy should be the quality of the education the Trinity Hall students receive, not the building you leave behind.


Jim Mulvaney
Member of the Chapel Hill Neighborhood Group

Monmouth Girls Academy Launching Feasibility Study September

I'm posting this press release from the Monmouth Girls Academy because this all girl academy was rumored to be interested in obtaining the Avaya site in Lincroft and using it as their campus.

This rumor had been floated by members of the Middletown governing body when questions started being asked by members of the Lincroft Village Greens Association(LVGA) and SONIC about the Four Ponds Redevelopment housing project set to be built at the Avaya site. The intention of the rumor was to deflect criticism away from the rezoning of the property from industrial usage to high density residential.

I have been told that mayor Tony Fiore, has recently been making the rounds telling residents in the Lincroft area that the Four Ponds development won't be built and that there is a potential commercial buyer in the background that would save the area from this housing project. I think however Fiore's assurances are nothing more than political electioneering on his park to sure up the voter base in Lincroft.

Of course however, if you are interested in finding out more about the Monmouth Girls Academy and participating in it's feasibility study, by all means go to their website and do so. I think the Academy is a worthy institution to support.

Local Families and Interested Individuals Invited to Participate in Feasibility Study – available at http://www.monmouthgirlsacademy.org

Rumson, NJ – (September 2011) – What do these prominent women have in common: Condoleeza Rice, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir and Carley Fiorina? Each attended an all-girls school. A number of national studies indicate a pattern of strong, successful careers for girls who attend single-sex schools, which has lead a group of local parents and educators to investigate the feasibility of opening an all-girls high school in Monmouth County.

The steering committee has engaged Wisconsin-based Meitler Consultants, a firm that specializes in school strategic planning, to study and analyze the feasibility of opening a centrally located all-girls Catholic college preparatory high school in Monmouth County, tentatively called The Monmouth Girls Academy (http://www.monmouthgirlsacademy.org).

The feasibility study will be conducted online from September 12 to 28, 2011. Families interested in participating in the study should visit: http://www.monmouthgirlsacademy.org

“The purpose of the study is to evaluate the feasibility of establishing an all-girls high school in Monmouth County and the potential impact on existing schools in the area as well as to establish open communication with all interested residents, educators and community leaders”, notes Victoria Gmelich, High School Study Steering Committee Co-Chair. “We encourage the community to participate in the study to help guide the decision-making process.”

Mairead Clifford, who also co-chairs the High School Study Steering Committee, says “from the beginning of the process, our group has sought to keep an open line of communication with the Diocese of Trenton as well as members of local Catholic, private and public school communities.”

What Does the Feasibility Study Ask?

The Monmouth Girls Academy Feasibility Study conducted by Meitler Consultants will include such questions as:

- number of girls in the family

- high school enrollment intentions

- factors/hurdles in selecting a high school

- factors/hurdles in selecting a parochial/Catholic school

- parental participation/support of an all-girls school

- open-ended questions such as why the study participant would enroll their daughter in an all-girls Catholic high school

- demographic information

Mission and Vision of the Monmouth Girls Academy

The Monmouth Girls Academy mission:

Objective is to establish a private, Catholic all-girls college preparatory high school in Monmouth County.

Academics will reflect our goal to inspire a lifelong thirst for knowledge through a rigorous, comprehensive and challenging approach to learning uniquely tailored to nurture the intellectual, spiritual, social and physical gifts of each individual.

A rigorous program which is developmentally appropriate for young women to achieve and reach their fullest potential.

To welcome students and families of different faiths and diverse backgrounds and value the uniqueness of each individual.

This all-girls high school, with an anticipated initial enrollment of 500-600 students, will serve a need currently unmet by existing parochial, private and public high schools in Monmouth County. The school would be accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, offer academics that exceed state standards, and welcome students of all faiths. The anticipated annual tuition is $13,000, with the support of financial aid for families with demonstrated need along with some academic scholarships. The site for the school will be centrally located in Monmouth County but will be based the feasibility study results.

Statistics about All Girls Schools

- Girls who attend single-sex schools outscore their co-ed counterparts on the SAT by an average of 28 to 43 points

- Three times as many alumnae of single-sex schools plan to become engineers

- Girls’ school students spend more hours per week doing homework, attending study groups, tutoring others and working with their teachers than co-ed students

- Nearly 100% of girls’ school grads go on to college.


To learn more about the Monmouth Girls Academy and to register for the study, please go to: http://www.monmouthgirlsacademy.org.

Like and share us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monmouth-Girls-Academy/232994200076529?sk=wall&filter=2

Christine Burke or Judy Musa, Full Circle Communications
Judy@fullcirclecommunications.net or 732-688-8079, 732-687-1556

Communications, Public Relations and Event Planning
Full Circle Communications

Phone: 732.688.8079
Fax: 732-747-5292

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