![](https://dioceseofnewark.org/sites/default/files/styles/node_hero_image/public/default_images/edn-header-default_1.jpg?itok=SUEt2vV_)
October 15, 2011
By:
Victoria St. Martin / The Star-Ledger
St. Philip’s Academy is home free.
With the help of donors, the private K-8 school in Newark has paid off its $22 million mortgage in five years, officials said.
Last week, the school of 344 students threw a party to celebrate paying off the mortgage in the spring. The hoopla included shredding a copy of the document and shooting it out of a confetti cannon in the gym, said Karen San Giacomo, the school’s communications director.
Anonymous donations of $100,000, $1.5 million and $2.8 million paid off the remaining balance, San Giacomo said.