After 16 years of dedicated service and leadership, Sister Yliana Hernández, PBVM, Principal and Founder of Nora Cronin Presentation Academy [NCPA] will be retiring at the conclusion of the academic year.

For the past two years, Sr. Hernández said that Nora Cronin had been searching for a new principal to replace her as she is ready to take on a new mission. In October of this year, Sr. Hernández will be heading to the United States border of Arizona and Mexico where she will be working to assist young women and young girls entering the country who may need job training and assistance with education and English speaking. Though she may be retiring, Sr. Hernández will be moving into the role of president of the school.

“I feel that it is time for me to move on and for the school to receive or have a new principal that will bring in new ideas, a new vision and that will continue to bring the school forward into the future,” said Sr. Hernández.

On Friday, June 10, NCPA celebrated their graduation ceremony and also welcomed Doctor Tammy Barnett of the Town of Newburgh, who will assume the role of principal on August 1.
According to her biography, Sr. Hernández holds a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York, New Paltz, a Master of Arts from Herbert H. Lehman College in New York, NY, a Master of Science & Professional Diploma from Fordham University and another Professional Diploma from Manhattan College. Sr. Hernández is also a current member of Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, based in New Windsor.

In the last 16 years, Nora Cronin has successfully graduated 160 girls. Current students attending the school are in the fifth to eighth grades, whereas the school initially started with fifth grade and added the additional grades later on.

“Failure in our school is not an option. There’s a spirit here in Newburgh that we don’t give up,” said Sr. Hernández. “I believe that every girl has the talent and capacity to succeed in life. I believe that education is the only way out of poverty.”

NCPA is a private Catholic middle school that serves young girls from low-income families through education both academically and spiritually. According to Sr. Hernández, the school was approved and meets the New York State Department of Education standards and requirements and was also approved by the Archdiocese of New York. NCPA is listed as a non-profit that holds 501(c)(3) status.

NCPA, which first opened in 2006, was named after Sister Nora Cronin of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of New Windsor, who passed away in 2004. Sr. Cronin, along with other sisters of the order, hoped to create a school for the low-income, underserved children of Newburgh. In 2018, NCPA saw students from its first ever fifth grade class graduate from a four year college.

During the last two years of the search for a new principal, Nora Cronin, like most schools across the country, was forced to go online due to COVID. “COVID has changed everything and it has been a challenge to everyone,” said Sr. Hernández. “We never thought that COVID would be more than a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so.”

Luckily before the pandemic started, teachers and students were trained with Google Chromebooks and Google Classroom which made the transition easier for learning for each student. Even while at home, Sr. Hernández said that the students would still come to their computers, fully dressed in their uniforms with all their academic materials and continue to go about their regular school days.

Heading towards her last few weeks at Nora Cronin, Sr. Hernández shared that though she may be leaving, NCPA does not depend on her only, rather it is the teachers, students, Board of Trustees, volunteers and supporters that make the school what it is today.

For the graduating class of 2022, Sr. Hernández hopes her graduating students will take with them some of her favorite quotes as they head on to the next chapter of their lives.
A quote from American poet Langston Hughes: “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly”. One of Sr. Hernández’s favorite scripture passages from The Book of Micah Chapter 6 Verse 8: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God”.

A final farewell and fundraiser tribute in honor of Sr. Hernández will take place at La Casa Vicina at 1015 Little Britain Road in New Windsor on June 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.