Na’Sah Dabbs Appointed to the San Miguel Academy Board of Trustees

San Miguel Academy of Newburgh is proud to announce the appointment of Na’Sah Dabbs to its Board of Trustees. Na’Sah is the second graduate of the Academy to be named to the Board, marking a powerful milestone in the school’s mission and legacy.

A member of San Miguel Academy’s Class of 2017, Na’Sah embodies the transformative impact of the SMA program. Following in the footsteps of his two older brothers, he has been part of the San Miguel community since before his official enrollment in 2013. Upon graduating from San Miguel, Na’Sah received both the Miguel Man Award and the 2017 Grandview Scholarship, which enabled him to attend Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut.

At Canterbury, Na’Sah distinguished himself as both a scholar and leader. He graduated with a 4.3 GPA and served on the Sixth Form, Interfaith, and Diversity & Inclusion Councils. His leadership roles included Dorm Proctor, Lead Ambassador, Student Events Committee Chair, and AHANA Club Chair. At graduation, he was honored with the Dr. Nelson Hume Award and the Citizenship Award as a member of the Class of 2021.

Na’Sah continued his academic and leadership journey at Boston College, where he remained deeply engaged in campus life as a member of the AHANA+ Leadership Council and the Campus Activities Board. He also served as a leader at Camp Dudley, a community he had been part of for more than a decade.

During the summers of his junior and senior years, Na’Sah gained valuable professional experience through internships at Hudson Valley Investment Advisors in Goshen, NY, and Cohen & Steers in New York City. Throughout these experiences, he benefited from mentorship that helped shape his personal and professional growth–opportunities made possible through San Miguel Academy’s 12-year commitment to its students and its Graduate Support Program, which opened doors to Camp Dudley and competitive internships.

Na’Sah graduated from Boston College in 2025 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and currently serves as a Portfolio Specialist Associate at Cohen & Steers.

“My fellow San Miguel alumni know that our achievements are not exceptions—they are examples of what a Newburgh kid can accomplish when given the opportunity. Now, it is our job to share that truth with the world.”

To learn more, visit newburghsanmiguel.org.

St. Benedict’s Preparatory School and San Miguel Academy Formalize Longstanding Partnership to Strengthen Catholic and Urban Education

St. Benedict’s Preparatory School of Newark, N.J., and San Miguel Academy of Newburgh, N.Y., announced a formal partnership that builds on more than a decade of shared success helping students from underserved communities gain access to life-changing educational opportunities. The announcement was made on November 7 during San Miguel Academy’s 21st Annual Scholarship Dinner, themed “Defying the Odds,” at Westchester Country Club.

Separated by 70 miles, but united by mission, the two Catholic schools have long shared a commitment to breaking the cycle of poverty through education and faith. Since 2010, San Miguel’s graduates have found academic, spiritual and personal growth at St. Benedict’s in a partnership that has opened doors, changed trajectories and strengthened both school communities.

“School today isn’t just about transferring knowledge, it’s about creating experiences that help students understand themselves and their place in the world,” said Rev. Edwin D. Leahy, O.S.B. ’63, Headmaster of St. Benedict’s. “San Miguel Academy does that beautifully with its Hudson River–based curriculum, and it mirrors what we strive for at St. Benedict’s through our experiential education programs. We have much to learn from each other, and I hope from now on we’re not spoken of as ‘them’ and ‘us,’ but as ‘we’ because we’re in this together.”

St. Benedict's Preparatory School, founded by the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey, is a college preparatory institution serving nearly 1,000 students across its co-ed K–8 and single-gender 9–12 divisions. Students take on key leadership roles in running the School, supported by mental health counseling and community-based traditions that define individual growth through team success.

Founded in 2006, San Miguel Academy serves boys and girls in grades 5–8 from underserved communities, preparing them for success at leading preparatory schools across the country. With an enrollment of 65 students, its mission is to help students envision and achieve a future far beyond their circumstances. Twenty-eight of San Miguel’s graduates have gone on to attend St. Benedict’s.

“Before starting San Miguel Academy, I visited St. Benedict’s for inspiration,” said Rev. Mark Connell, Executive Director of the San Miguel Program of Newburgh. “I knew our families wanted our school to help students achieve academically. But I also wanted to build into the core of our school the intense positivity, joy, community and hope that I saw created at St. Benedict’s. Now, 20 years later, as our board is asking how we can make a difference into the future, we are turning again to St. Benedict’s for collaboration because we share so much in common. We both know—in terms of lives transformed—what’s possible when we work together as a community.”

Through this agreement, the two schools will establish a working group of board and staff members to explore long-term collaboration; welcome one another’s board members to key events; share best practices in fundraising and pursue joint grant opportunities; exchange academic innovations, including place-based environmental education; and promote mentorship exchanges between the St. Benedict’s and San Miguel communities. The partnership will also include collaboration on governance initiatives, such as cross-board representation, and regular communication between leadership teams as discussions progress.

A Partnership That Transforms Lives: Where San Miguel-Benedict’s graduates are now: 

  • Cory Arias-Cespedes ’20 — Rowed for both San Miguel Academy and St. Benedict’s before graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 2025.

  • Brandon Pineda ’22 and Steven Palacios ’24 — Continued the crew careers they began at San Miguel’s and St. Benedict’s and now row for Dominican University New York. Brandon is majoring in business management and received the university’s Beacon of Hope Scholarship, while Steven is studying architecture and is the recipient of the Raymond Hill and Darla Sweet Scholarship.

  • Jonathan Recino ’24 — A St. Benedict’s graduate who entered the U.S. Naval Academy last year, joining his brothers Christian and Christopher—triplets who all graduated from San Miguel Academy in 2020 and were accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2028.

The schools plan to convene the new partnership working group this fall and anticipate sharing updates on collaborative projects in the coming year.