QuestBridge is a nonprofit that, like Church Farm School, “grew from a core belief that all students deserve to reach their full potential, regardless of their financial background.” Co-founded in 1994, QuestBridge identifies bright young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and aims to provide opportunity through significant financial aid to the nation’s leading colleges and universities.

CFS, meanwhile, was founded in 1918 with a mission to “prepare a diverse group of boys in grades 9-12 with academic ability and good character to lead productive and fulfilling lives by making a college preparatory education financially accessible.”

When Tiffany Scott, CFS’s Interim Head of School, joined the administrative team in 2014 as its first-ever Director of College Guidance, she made it a goal for the school to partner with QuestBridge, which offers a full, four-year scholarship to more than 50 esteemed national universities through its National College Match Program. Since 2015, 13 CFS students have been named National College Match Finalists, with seven seniors matched and receiving full rides to Princeton, Brown, Tufts, Williams, Vassar, Penn, and the University of Chicago.

This year, CFS is adding three more names to that list — seniors Hector Audelo-Gutierrez, Achylles Farias, and Kennent Pineda are all National College Match Finalists. Of the 25,500 applications submitted this year, 7,288 students were selected for their outstanding academic achievement; 81 percent of finalists are first-generation college students.

Having three finalists in a school the size of Church Farm School — 133 students enrolled in grades 9-12 — is no small feat, but also no surprise. CFS students are identified not just for their academic profile or financial need but their clear desire to lean into the opportunity to attend a college preparatory school and make a difference.

Audelo-Gutierrez is from Paterson, N.J. He takes a full roster of advanced classes while also serving as a prefect in his dormitory and playing varsity soccer and lacrosse. He consistently earns academic honors and was inducted into the National Honor Society his junior year. His teachers praise his enthusiasm, as well as his mentorship of younger students. He spent the summer taking courses in evolutionary medicine at Harvard University through the Student Diplomacy Corps. His dream is to match with Johns Hopkins University and study medicine.

Farias ame to CFS as a junior from Brazil. His uncle graduated from CFS in the 1990s and believed the school could help bring out his natural talents in music, math, science, and leadership — at an affordable cost. Farias was voted by his peers to be the president of the National Honor Society. Over the summer, he studied physics at Penn through the Student Diplomacy Corps, an opportunity funded by generous CFS alumni. His top choices for QuestBridge are MIT, Yale, and Columbia.

Pineda, from Newark, N.J., and a Wight Foundation scholar, is a student whose potential was evident very quickly; he earned the highest GPA award from the entire school at the Class of 2022 Commencement Ceremony, a rare feat for a freshman. His efforts have never waned, and he consistently receives honors in academics, athletics, and residential life, while also co-founding the school’s first Hispanic Heritage Club and being elected to Student Congress. His dream is to match with Swarthmore College and study engineering.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our scholars being named as finalists to QuestBridge’s National College Match,” said Scott. “Like Church Farm School, QuestBridge offers a life-changing opportunity to get an extraordinary education at low or no cost to families.”

Learn more about Church Farm School and the matriculations of its graduates since 2020.