FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2020
Item: Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School Leadership Announcement
Contact: Joe Acciarito
Director of Advancement
Office: (718) 455-3555 ext. 4210
Cell: (646) 236-7053
Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School Appoints Joseph Dugan and Deanna Philippe as President and Principal, respectively. Bill Henson to Join Board and appointed Senior Advisor, Effective July 1, 2020
BROOKLYN, N.Y.
Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School’s (CRB) board of directors announced that Joe Dugan has been appointed President of CRB and that Deanna Philippe will succeed Joe as Principal. Current President Bill Henson has been elected to the board of directors and will also serve as a Senior Advisor to the board and school leadership. These changes are effective July 1, 2020.
Located in East Flatbush, Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School is a member of the nationally recognized 37 school Cristo Rey Network (CRN), the largest network of secondary schools in the country that exclusively serves students and families of limited economic means. Accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and drawing students from more than 80 different zip codes, CRBHS is a Catholic college preparatory high school that educates young people of all religious backgrounds to become men and women of faith, purpose and service.
Dugan is currently Principal of CRB, a role he has served in the last four of his seven-year tenure with Cristo Rey Brooklyn. With undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University, Joe served for many years as teacher, director and vice principal at Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School prior to joining Cristo Rey Brooklyn. Under his leadership as Cristo Rey Brooklyn’s chief academic officer, CRB now offers 17 AP and Honors classes, developed dual credit programs with local higher education partners, significantly expanded faculty professional development opportunities and training, launched the CRB Summer Institute in 2019 to provide additional advanced and refresher classes across multiple disciplines and has served in various leadership and advisory roles working with other Network schools.
“Joe is fourth-generation Brooklyn.” said Board Chair Bob Catell, “He continues a proud family tradition of educational, business, civic and philanthropic commitment to the Brooklyn and greater New York City community. After conducting a targeted search beginning last Fall and considering several impressive candidates, the board was convinced that Joe is the right person to lead CRB into the future as we emerge from the Corona Virus crisis and seek to cement the progress of the school’s initial decade.”
Presently CRB’s Assistant Principal, Deanna Philippe assumes the role of Principal as well prepared and uniquely qualified as most anyone can be. With undergraduate and Master’s degrees in English Literature, Philippe will graduate next summer with a Master’s of Science from Queens College in school leadership. She brings 15 years of secondary level experience as teacher, coach, Admissions Director and administrator, including six years with Cristo Rey Brooklyn, the last four as Assistant Principal. Like many CRB students, Deanna is first-generation American, her parents having immigrated from Haiti, she grew up in East Flatbush, just blocks from the Cristo Rey Brooklyn facility. As Assistant Principal, she has developed the school’s Academic Support Program, co-chaired the two year effort culminating in CRB’s 2018 NYSAIS accreditation, led curriculum and professional developments initiatives locally and in conjunction with the CRN, and successfully collaborated to integrate the school’s academic offerings and practices with its unique Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP).
According to incoming President Dugan, “Deanna serves as a daily reminder and inspiration that our mission is to not only to educate the whole student, but all students. I have known and worked with Deanna for many years, even predating our CRB tenure, and I could not be any more confident that our close partnership, especially in the last four years, will continue to grow and thrive in our respective new roles. Her faith, work ethic, personal and professional background and success easily make her the most qualified person for this critical leadership position.”
Henson joined CRB as President in early 2011 after a 30 plus year corporate finance career when, according to Chairman Catell the school, which had opened at the advent of the 2008 Great Recession, “was one meeting away from closing.” In the near decade since, Cristo Rey Brooklyn has more than doubled enrollment to 300, graduated 500 students, earned full membership status in the CRN and NYSAIS accreditation, grown its CWSP partners to nearly 100 companies, relocated from its original elementary school building to a full-fledged high school facility, and for the last eight years achieved a 100% college acceptance rate, with nearly all those students receiving at least one acceptance to a four year college with full financial need met. Through the Class of 2018, 82% of its alumni have graduated from or are persisting in college, a rate that represents a significant multiple of students nationally from the same socio-economic cohort and one far greater than the 48% rate for all other college goers.
“Bill will be the first to acknowledge that Cristo Rey Brooklyn’s turnaround and subsequent growth would not have occurred without the steadfast commitment and support of hundreds of families, faculty and staff, directors, work study sponsors, donors and so many others” said Catell, “but neither would it have happened had he not engineered and lead that multi-year effort. The Cristo Rey Brooklyn community is deeply indebted to Bill for his invaluable contributions and I am pleased to announce that at the request of the CRB board of directors, Bill will continue to remain actively involved with CRB, working closely with me, Joe and the board to develop and execute on our long-term strategic financial plan.”
