Dual Enrollment Program Combats High Cost of College Tuition Enrolling in Hudson Catholic can put a student on the way toward saving 45 to 70% of their college tuition upon graduating Hudson Catholic!   The families of Hudson Catholic Honors students enrolled in the St Peter’s University Dual Enrollment Program are investing a small amount now, to save a lot later. How is that? On top of our annual tuition, our D.E.P. students pay $275 per three or four-credit class in this Honors program. The average student snares 21 credits per year in the program, ranging from 13 as a Sophomore to 30 as a Senior. The total cost of the three-year program is $6,000 above H.C. tuition. But SPU has discounted their tuition to just 10% of their cost -- a savings of ~$54,000, or 90%!   And because the credits earned are largely transferable at the college or university of their choice, and 100% to SPU, upon graduation from Hudson Catholic, our students contemporaneously receive an SPU Associates Degree. That reduces college tuition by half and enables students to pursue their careers two years earlier than planned!   The benefits do not stop there. All D.E.P. students choosing to attend SPU receive a 50% reduction in SPU tuition, so the savings on their college degree is now up to 70%! And this is before financial aid is assessed, providing a good number of our students with an opportunity to obtain a degree at a very affordable price. And, annually, two lucky and deserving students completing the D.E.P. at the top of the program are offered full tuition scholarship at SPU!   We are thankful to St. Peter’s University for their generosity to our students, and to Bill Venezia ’70, our Director of Special Instruction, for constructing and stewarding this unique program for the benefit of our students and families.

Covid-19 Economic Relief Bill Can Benefit Hudson Catholic

CNBC reported that, as a result of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, over 100 million Americans were expected to receive $1,400 stimulus payments from the federal government in the month of March.   If you are one of those, and may be surprised at receiving this payment, then perhaps you would consider donating it forward, to Hudson Catholic, where it can make a difference for our students, and give you a nice tax deduction for the current year.

Seeking Auction Prizes  The 8th Annual Black & Gold Golf Classic to be held on September 16th is on of the largest fundraising events benefitting Hudson Catholic.   We are always thinking of ways to maximize our return on this event and, this year, we are planning to offer a Live Auction of a small number of exclusive items, be they experiences or products.   If you believe you can help, personally or through your employer, please consider donating prizes that can fetch high dollar bids at auction. Some examples: authentic autographed sports memorabilia, an exclusive golf experience at a private club, a vacation package to an exotic destination, a personal chef experience, or admission to a VIP box for a hard-to-get concert or sporting event ticket.   If you do not have the prize itself to donate, perhaps you might have a surfeit of frequent flyer miles that would take an auction winner to a far-off destination in style. Time to get creative! To offer your gift to the Live Auction, please drop a note to gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org.

Donate directly from a Qualified Distribution Plan  If you have a tax-deferred retirement account, the IRS requires you, at age 72, to take a taxable required minimum distribution (RMD) each year. One way to satisfy this requirement would be to make a charitable gift with it, perhaps to Hudson Catholic, while preserving a tax-free status on the amount of the gift.   If you are age 70 ½ or older, you may contribute any amount up to $100,000 per year from your Traditional IRA directly to Hudson Catholic, without having to incur taxes on such a distribution, commonly called an IRA charitable rollover (also referred to as a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD).   A QCD is a tax-wise strategy, counting toward your RMD and reducing the taxable amount of an IRA distribution, to lower overall tax liability. It could also save on Medicare surtax (IRMAA) and tax on Social Security benefits, depending on your annual income level.   This information is not intended as legal or tax advice. For such advice, please consult an attorney or your financial or tax advisor. _____________________________________________ For more information on giving to Hudson Catholic, contact Gary Ferrari, Chief Advancement Officer at gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org or 201-888-6276.

SMILE! And Money Flows to Hudson Catholic The Amazon Smile program is an easy way to direct donations to Hudson Catholic without any cost to you while purchasing from Amazon.   Each time you make a purchase on their website, Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to a charity of your choice.   You can choose Hudson Catholic High School by going to smile.amazon.com. Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials, search for, and select Hudson Catholic High School as your non-profit preference, and you are done. Then, just shop!   Amazon Smile has helped many non-profit organizations and it can help our own Hawks Nest. This is an easy but potentially significant opportunity for our alumni, friends, faculty, administration, and all our families and friends, to help a very important place in our hearts and lives.   We hope you choose Hudson Catholic! That will put a Smile on our face!

Lost Alumni Can you help find them? We have no phone, email, or mailing addresses for these graduates. Send information to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org.

Class of 1979 Joseph Barone Edward Coyle Tooray Ghafoorian John Lenahan Glenn Ortenzio Steven Rapka Bernard Reynoso Rafael Sy Steven Valentino Class of 1986 Michael Albanese Mike Bauer Erike Boyles Tony Colasurdo Frank Verga Class of 1988 Patrick Cotrone Robert Della Fave Robert Dressler Nam Kim Class of 2001 Freddy Aguilar Javier Delgado Oscar Gomez Masum Hossain Tim Steinel Anthony Weshifesky Jake Young Class of 2012 Ariel Rosario

Tell Us Your Story We assemble the contents of our newsletters from a variety of sources. Please feel free to offer your updates, remembrances, and personal stories to us for publication. People always enjoy hearing about their friends, peers, and classmates.   Anyone have an anecdote worth sharing? A Celebration? Milestone? Trip? An unexpected run-in with a classmate? Or a ritual gathering among classmates? This space is yours to share good times.

To Sponsor the Hall of Fame Event or Place a Testimonial to our Honorees in the Commemorative Event Program Contact Jill Cypher 201-332-5970 x118 or jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org

Special thanks to our sponsors: