STATEN ISLAND, NY – St. Peter’s Girls High School in New Brighton was a top Staten Island spot for Catholic education for 94 years until it was sadly shuttered in 2011.
In addition to its academics, St. Peter’s Girls was known for its powerhouse Eagles basketball program and its legendary hoops coaches, Joan Gumb and Bob Daggett.
The program was one of the most successful in Staten Island history, with a number of championships to their credit. The school featured 14 Jaques Award winners over the years as well as 16 players who scored at least 1,000 points.
Dwindling enrollment and a building in need of repair led the New York Archdiocese to announce that St. Peter’s Girls would close at the end of the 2011 academic year.
Those looking to keep the school open pointed out that St. Peter’s Girls graduates have gone on to become judges, nurses, doctors, teachers, lawyers and professional basketball players.
The 3,500-strong school Alumnae Association battled mightily to keep the doors open, but a fundraising campaign to raise $1 million fell short. A hoped-for merger with St. Peter’s Boys High School was a non-starter.
The final St. Peter’s Girls graduating class of 37 girls received their diplomas on June 4, 2011, joining more than 9,000 young women who were graduated from the school in its near century of existence.
The St. Peter’s Girls building is now home to PS 59, known as the Harborview School, which opened in 2013.
See the galley above for 31 vintage photos from the history of still-missed St. Peter’s Girls High School.
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