Adelphi Academy Gives Back for the Holidays!
Student Advisory Board members Susan and Yura show off some of the collected toys.
BAY RIDGE — Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn helped spread holiday cheer to children in need by donating hundreds of new, unwrapped toys — collected as part of the Academy’s Annual Holiday Toy Drive — to families of Project Hospitality and the Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI), thanks to a special partnership with St. George Theatre and the Minority Women in Business Association (MWBA) of Staten Island.
Adelphi was pleased to join with the two Staten Island-based organizations to ensure that the toys donated by students, faculty and staff each week would be given to children in need right in time for the holidays. From action figures and race cars to board games and puzzles, Adelphians donated brand new, unwrapped toys each week during the drive in exchange for dress down privileges. The toys were placed inside a large bin in the Academy’s Main Hall that quickly overflowed!
The toy drive built upon the success of the Annual Holiday Food Drive, during which students and staff once again donated hundreds of canned goods to those in need, just in time for Thanksgiving. This year’s food drive, organized by Adelphi’s Student Advisory Board, helped to restock the shelves at Reaching-Out Community Services, Inc. to benefit its Food Pantry Plus Program.
Student Advisory Board members Maxelle and Ilona pose before placing toys in the donation bin.
“Building upon the success of our Annual Holiday Food Drive, through which Adelphi donated hundreds of canned goods to Reaching-Out Community Services, Inc., the Academy proudly joined forces with the staff at St. George Theatre and the MWBA of Staten Island to collect so many new toys for the families of Project Hospitality and CHASI. This partnership allowed Adelphians to deliver to these families a little extra joy this holiday season,” said Adelphi Head of School Ms. Iphigenia Romanos. “One of the most important lessons we can teach our children is the importance of selflessness during the holidays — and at all times. We thank our neighbors over the bridge for allowing us to bring that lesson to life and contribute to such a successful and impactful effort.”
Ms. Romanos herself was part of a special visit by Adelphi officials to St. George Theatre on Friday, December 18th, 2020 to personally deliver the toys collected by the Academy, as well as to greet Santa Claus and event organizers and tour the historic theatre, which once played host to legendary Adelphi alumna the late Joan Rivers!
Head of School Ms. Iphigenia Romanos and Student Advisory Board members pose with some of the canned goods collected for the Annual Holiday Food Drive.
As the oldest private, independent, continuing, coeducational, college-preparatory day school in the borough and one of the oldest in the nation, Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn, “the little school of big dreams” has been “effectively preparing young people for college, career, and life, one day at a time” for over 150 years. Founded in 1863 and located in the historic Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, Adelphi enrolls students from three years of age through twelfth grade. A strong emphasis is placed on small class size, individualized attention, self-expression, critical thinking and challenging hands-on learning through Adelphi’s founding philosophy and dedication to the education of the “total child.” Adelphi students excel within a small, intimate, safe, caring, nurturing, and secure environment through Adelphi’s core values and founding principles of pride, tradition, spirit, and excellence. The student-teacher ratio is 8 to 1 and Adelphi is a New York State Regents Exempt Program with a 100% college application, acceptance and attendance rate. A founding member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, Adelphi receives its charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and has been a member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools since 1928. Ms. Iphigenia Romanos serves as Head of School.
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Photos courtesy of Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn