

For more information about Newport Central Catholic please visit their website.
News from the Hill…
September 30, 2025
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC TO HOST “A THOROUGHBRED AFFAIR” WINNERS’ CIRCLE
Newport Central Catholic High School will host “A Thoroughbred Affair” Winners’ Circle on Saturday, November 8, 2025 on the school campus! The evening will include afun night that features dinner, cocktails, silent auctions, raffles and socializing! The cost is $100 per person.
Make your reservations by Wednesday, October 22 online at:https://nccwinners2025.givesmart.com/
Unable to attend the event, raffle tickets may be purchased and silent auction items may be viewed and bid upon at https://nccwinners2025.givesmart.com/
September 24, 2025
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC NOMINATED AS A 2025 CAPE NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE
Newport Central Catholic (NCC) is proud to announce that the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) has nominated NCC as a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in an announcement made on the CAPE website on Friday, September 12, 2025. For a full list of 2025 CAPE-nominated schools, visit: https://capenetwork.org/department-of-education-ends-national-blue-ribbon-schools-program/.
Each year, the Secretary of Education would invite CAPE to nominate up to 50 private schools that met the criteria for recognition. Newport Central Catholic was one of two schools selected from the state of Kentucky this year. Blue Ribbon eligibility is only for “exemplary high performing schools” as stated by the CAPE Network website. “High performing” means:
“The achievement of the school’s students in the most recently completed school year, places the school in the top 15 percent in the nation in reading and mathematics as measured by a nationally normed test or in the top 15 percent of its state as measured by a state test”.
“The graduation rate in the most recent class of graduates must be 95 percent or higher”.
Newport Central Catholic achieved these standards with both the 2024 and 2025 graduating classes. The application cannot take place until the following school year. Having met the quantitative requirements of testing to apply, NCC staff completed the National Blue Ribbon Application process in the Fall of 2024, which includes a detailed qualitative narrative. https://ncchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25ky100pv_newport_central-catholic_high_school_clean.pdf
In an August 4th email from Judy Cercone, Director of National Blue Ribbon Schools Program from the U.S. Department of Education, Principal Kenny Collopy was notified that “Your school has met all of the requirements, however, I’d appreciate it if you held this good news ‘close to the vest’ until after the Secretary’s official announcement”. On August 29, 2025, an announcement came from the United States Department of Education notifying schools that the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program would be terminated, effective immediately.
Principal Collopy stated that “while we are disappointed that we will not be officially receiving the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence directly from the US Department of Education, we are grateful to have been nominated by CAPE and potentially other national organizations. This does not detract from our students’ achievements and the hard work and dedication of our teachers and administrators.”
“The nomination of Newport Central Catholic High School as a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School is a proud moment for our diocese,” said Kendra McGuire, superintendent, Catholic Schools, Diocese of Covington. “It reflects the commitment of Catholic schools to provide a rigorous academic program rooted in faith and service.”
Celebrations for Newport Central Catholic will take place in the upcoming weeks. Collopy stated that “Achievements such as this ought to be celebrated in a big way and we intend to do so. Our students, staff, and community have worked so hard to ensure our students are receiving an incredible educational experience and this national recognition is just one piece of evidence that we are doing so.”
More information about CAPE and the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program Nomination Process can be found at: ncchs.com/blueribbon
September 22, 2025
HANSBAUER NAMED A COMMENDED STUDENT IN THE 2026 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The principal, Kenny Collopy, of Newport Central Catholic High School announced today that Senior Greta Hansbauer has been named a Commended Student in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to this scholastically talented senior.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2026 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2026 competition by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource: recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”
“Greta did not achieve these results by accident,” Principal Collopy said. “She is an incredibly hardworking and dedicated student who achieves at the highest levels. We are all very proud of her for achieving a seat among the nation’s top students.”
Greta is the daughter of Melanie and Joe Hansbauer, residents of Newport, KY and members of St. Catherine of Siena parish.