Sacred Heart High School in Vineland to close in June

Faced with an enrollment smaller than most parochial schools' and little prospect of improvement, Sacred Heart High School in Vineland, N.J., will close in June.

Founded in 1927, Sacred Heart enrolls about 168 students in grades nine through 12, well below the threshold of 220 that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden considers viable even for grammar schools.

With 52 seniors graduating this spring and just 21 freshmen starting in the fall, the prospect of a turnaround seemed slight, according to diocesan officials. They notified employees, students, and parents at a closed meeting Thursday that the next graduation ceremony would be the school's last.

Built to accommodate 350 students, the school had enrollment of 288 in 2010 but the number has declined every year since.

The modest brick building at 15 N. East End Ave. had been scheduled to close last year, but when the school community pleaded with Bishop Joseph Galante in February 2012 for more time, he agreed. Enrollment then stood at 202.

Despite a fund drive that collected more than $300,000, and ambitious recruitment efforts at elementary schools, school leaders were unable to attract enough new students to reassure the diocese that Sacred Heart had a robust future.

Galante retired from the diocese in February and was succeeded by Bishop Dennis Sullivan, formerly an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New York. Sullivan approved the closure, according to diocesan spokesman Peter Feuerherd.

The school's sports teams, known as the Lions, compete in the Cape-Atlantic League, a four-county conference of Catholic and public schools.

As an accommodation to Sacred Heart pupils who want to attend other diocesan high schools, the diocese will discount their tuitions by $1,500 for the 2013-14 school year. There are six Catholic high schools in the diocese. Annual tuition is about $8,000.