Beyonce & Jay Donate to the Whitney E. Houston Academy
About a month after Whitney Houston's death, her namesake school in East Orange has received donations totaling $39,568 in honor of the late popstar. The biggest single check came in from Sony Music for $25,000, according to Felicie Desroches, an accountant in the district business administrator's office. Jay-Z and Beyonce made the second largest contribution — $10,000 — to the school. The check came from Shawn Carter, Jay-Z's birth name, and listed a Miami address, Desroches said. She said a typed note on memo line of the check stated, "On behalf of Jay-Z and Beyonce." Late last year, the celebrity couple were reportedly scoping out real estate on Miami Beach - a $12.5 million mansion that previously was Ricky Martin's pad. Principal Henry Hamilton said he plans to use the money to set up a college fund for students and to update the school's perfoming arts equipment. Just days after Houston died, her family requested that all donations be directed to Whitney E. Houston Academy, an unassuming brick front school on Dodd Street in East Orange that focuses on the performing arts. Houston, 48, was found dead at a hotel in Beverly Hills on Feb. 11. The donations are being put into a separate bank account for the school, which has about 420 students in grades pre-kindergarten to eight.
