Mount St. Michael Academy is an all-boys' private, Catholic, college preparatory school in the Wakefield neighborhood of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The school's campus also borders the city of Mount Vernon in neighboring Westchester County and is administered by the Archdiocese of New York.
The school opened on September 13, 1926, originally staffed by fourteen Marist Brothers, and dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel.
The U.S. Department of Education named it a National Blue Ribbon School in 1992.
Contents
Mission Statement
In the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church and the Marist Brothers, Mount St. Michael Academy provides a rigorous, technologically literate, value-centered college preparatory education to a brotherhood of diverse young men. Our community’s holistic approach fosters each student’s personal excellence and empowers them to mature as healthy, well-rounded, service-oriented leaders in our ever-changing world.
Philosophy
Mount St. Michael Academy is a mission of the Roman Catholic Church. The school is entrusted to the Marist Brothers and to those dedicated laymen and laywomen and religious of other congregations who join with the Marist Brothers in this apostolate. This mission emanates from a belief in the fundamental precepts of the Gospel and aims to proclaim and give witness to the Gospel. This mission is marked by the charism of the founder of the Marist Brothers, St. Marcellin Champagnat, namely: simplicity, family spirit, love of work, and devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Mount Saint Michael Academy seeks to cooperate with families as they strive to fulfill the responsibility given to them by the Church, specifically the Christian education of their children.
Notable alumni
Commerce and economics
Rocco B. Commisso (1967) – founder, chairman and CEO of Mediacom
Angelo Mozilo (1956) - Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Countrywide Financial Corporation
George Ranalli – architect
Don Valentine (1950) – venture capitalist, Sequoia Capital; "Grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital"
Fine arts and entertainment
Lillo Brancato – actor, known for A Bronx Tale, Renaissance Man
Sean Combs (1987) – rapper; music producer
Paul Grassi (1996) – reality television personality
Walter Murphy – pianist; composer
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro – reality television star, Jersey Shore
Leon Robinson – actor; singer, known for Waiting to Exhale, Cool Runnings, Above the Rim
Andre Royo – actor, known for the television series The Wire
Professional athletics
Art Donovan (1943) – professional football player
Richie Guerin (1950) – Naismith Hall of Famer; NBA basketball player; coach
Bill O'Connor (1944) – professional football player
Marcus Patterson (2013) – professional basketball player
Bill Polian – ESPN analyst; former Indianapolis Colts general manager and president
Vince Promuto (1956) – professional football player
Caraun Reid (2009) – defensive tackle for the Washington Redskins
James Rowson (1994) - baseball player and coach
Alex Santos (2020) – MLB pitcher
Public service
Philip Foglia – prosecutor; Italian American civic rights activist
Joaquín "Jack" García – federal criminal investigator
Anthony Principi (1962) – former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Kevin Riley - member of the New York City Council
Sexual abuse cases
In 1988, an Irish-born Catholic priest and a Marist brother were indicted on charges they sexually abused boys at the school. Irish Reverend Bernárd Lynch, who served as the chaplain, and Brother Timothy Brady, the acting principal, were accused of molesting three boys. Lynch was acquitted while Brady was sentenced to prison. Following Brady's release from prison, Marist Brothers reassigned him to a Catholic high school in Chicago from 1993 to 2005.
In 2011, Marist Brother Lawrence Gordon, the assistant principal, was criminally charged for possessing child pornography. Gordon accidentally left a USB drive plugged into a library computer on Valentine's Day, which held sexually explicit images of underage boys. Gordon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year at St. Luke Institute, an institution known for treating priests accused of child sexual abuse.
In 2019, Father Bernárd Lynch was accused again of sexually abusing a different teen student at the school 40 years ago, according to the lawsuit. The 57-year-old plaintiff, then a 16-year-old at the school, alleged the sexual abuse occurred in 1978 and 1979. The lawsuit was dropped in 2021.