Phila. archdiocese to close two more schools
Two more Catholic schools will close in June, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Friday. St. Joseph in Collingdale and Stella Maris in South Philadelphia will shut down because of low enrollment, officials said in a statement.
Two more Catholic schools will close in June, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Friday.
St. Joseph in Collingdale and Stella Maris in South Philadelphia will shut down because of low enrollment, officials said in a statement.
It is a familiar pattern across the region and around the country. Many Catholic schools are closing or merging as the church grapples with population shifts and lower Catholic birthrates.
In the Philadelphia Archdiocese alone, five schools now will be shuttered at the end of this school year.
Earlier this year, Cardinal Justin Rigali told the parishes of St. Joseph and Stella Maris that he would consider keeping the schools open if enough students registered for the next school year. But at St. Joseph, which needed 200 students, only 142 registered; at Stella Maris, which needed 175 students, only 69 registered.
"It was our hope that through registration and fund-raising efforts, Stella Maris and St. Joseph parish schools could remain open, but sadly the conscientious and diligent efforts of the parish schools' communities were unable to surmount the trend of declining enrollment," Rigali said in the statement.
In a letter to parents, the Rev. Michael Reilly, the parochial administrator of St. Joseph's, said cost and parent uncertainty contributed to the school's decline.
With the small enrollment projected for next year, tuition would have soared more than $2,000, to $6,347 per student, Reilly said in the letter.
"The parish could not afford to sustain the difference between tuition and the actual cost to educate each student," Reilly wrote. "At the same time, such a low enrollment jeopardizes the quality standards the archdiocese desires for a solid Catholic education for our children."
St. Joseph's, which opened in 1916, does not have a teacher solely dedicated to art, music, gym or computer instruction, Reilly said. The school's enrollment went from 389 in 2006-07 to 230 this year.
Stella Maris, which opened in 1956, had 274 students in 2006-07 and has 181 this year. If it were to open in the fall with the 69 pupils currently registered, the school would have a debt of more than $800,000, "which would then exhaust all of Stella Maris parish funds," the archdiocese said.
In a statement, the Rev. Peter DiMaria, pastor of Stella Maris, said that "it gives me great pain to close our parish school, and I know it will cause tremendous sadness for you, the school families, for our dedicated faculty and your precious children. Unfortunately, Stella Maris is in crisis now and must take decisive action."
Children who attended St. Joseph will go to St. Gabriel in Norwood, St. Eugene in Primos, or Our Lady of Fatima in Secane, all about two miles away. Those who attended Stella Maris will attend either Epiphany of Our Lord or St. Monica, both in South Philadelphia within two miles of Stella Maris.
The archdiocese, citing flagging enrollment, in June will shutter two city high schools, Cardinal Dougherty and North Catholic.
St. John Bosco grade school, which has a Hatboro mailing address but is in Warminster, Bucks County, will close as well.
Also, two Montgomery County schools - Queen of Peace in Ardsley and St. John of the Cross in Roslyn - will merge in the fall. So will four Bucks County schools: Immaculate Conception and Queen of the Universe in Levittown, St. Frances Cabrini in Fairless Hills, and St. Joseph the Worker in Fallsington.
In South Jersey, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Regional School in Barrington closed in June.
