Only 8% of low-income students graduate from college. But 65% of graduates from the Cornelia Connelly Center graduate from college.

Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus in 1993, the Cornelia Connelly Center (CCC) provides fifth through eighth-grade girls from low-income families with a solid and well-rounded education. Located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the school educates close to 80 students each year.

While it costs $16,000 per year to educate each student, tuition is set at just $550 per student. The remainder of the cost is raised through the fund-raising efforts of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and the School itself.

The School also supports its graduates through high school with a structured program of tuition assistance, study aid, and counseling, including guidance on college admissions. Then, through college and beyond, CCC maintains relationships, providing a network of support to help alumnae overcome challenges to complete their degrees and embark on careers.

CCC is a member of the Holy Child Network of Schools.

Alexandra arrived at the Cornelia Connelly Center in the fall of 1993. She was a member of the school’s first class of sixth graders—a group of girls whose families knew that the public school system was not meeting their daughters’ needs. And so these families decided to entrust their daughters’ futures to a new school in the neighborhood that promised better things.

The Cornelia Connelly Center helped to equip Alexandra with the skills to soar. Alexandra graduated from the Cornelia Connelly Center in 1995. She attended high school, college and graduate school, receiving a master’s degree in accounting. Today, she is a Senior Tax Analyst at Coach, Inc. and remains connected to her Holy Child family by serving on the Cornelia Connelly Center’s Finance Committee and helping to organize alumnae events.