CAMILLE O. COSBY DONATES $2 MILLION TO AN EXTRAORDINARY HIGH SCHOOL IN BALTIMORE

April 4, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Joel Brokaw (310) 273-2060

To support a proven solution that gives hope to the crisis-ridden American educational system, Camille O. Cosby, Ed. D has made a donation of $2 million to Saint Frances Academy of Baltimore, Maryland.  Dr. Cosby gave this grant in recognition of the Catholic co-educational high school's outstanding accomplishment in providing extraordinary education and life skills for its students.  Saint Frances Academy was founded 176 years ago by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, an order of African American nuns who continue to run the school to this day.   

“If we are looking for solutions to the failure of our schools to educate our children, we would be well served by studying and replicating what Saint Frances Academy is doing,” stated Camille O. Cosby.  “The statistics supporting the excellence of their work speak loudly for themselves.  Given the magnitude of problems such as skyrocketing high school dropout rates, our society can no longer afford that this institution remains a best kept secret.”

The 325 students attending Saint Frances Academy come from mostly lower income neighborhoods, 72 percent of which qualify for federal free school lunch programs.  The teachers at Saint Frances draw a salary 20 percent less than their colleagues at Baltimore public schools.  In Baltimore public schools, 76 percent of African American males and 50 percent of 9th graders drop out.  At Saint Frances, 90 percent of seniors gain acceptance to college, three quarters of which are the first in their families to do so. Between 1985 and 1998, more than 70 percent of Saint Frances alumni earned a college degree within six years of graduation. This percentage is all the more remarkable given that only 6 percent of people growing up in homes with incomes of $35,000 or less earn college degrees.

“Dr. Camille Cosby's generosity is wonderful news for the Saint Frances Academy school community,” stated Sister John Francis Schilling, President and Principal of Saint Frances Academy.  “Each gift for Saint Frances makes a difference, but her contribution will make an immediate, widespread impact.”  Sister John Francis will establish 16 endowed scholarships in Dr. Camille Cosby's name.  For more information, contact www.sfacademy.org or phone 410.539.7030.