JudynTX
02-19-2009, 10:34 AM
:( My nephew attends St. John's the Evangelist.
After years of struggling with declining enrollment, the Archdiocese of San Antonio announced that two of its 44 Catholic schools will not open next fall.
St. Joseph Catholic School, which serves 111 students on the city’s South Side, will close after the 2008-09 school year. St. John the Evangelist School, which has a current enrollment of 134, will consolidate into St. Mary Magdalen, located nearby in the North Central part of town.
About 25 teachers and administrators at St. Joseph and St. John could lose their jobs next fall, said Bishop Oscar Cantú, and staff will help them prepare their resumes to get hired elsewhere.
“The situation of the Catholic schools has changed tremendously over the past 50 years,” Cantú said. “Particularly difficult has been the maintaining of Catholic schools in the inner cities of metropolitan areas across the nation.”
Kathy Corley, who graduated from St. Joseph in 1983, said she’s had a hunch the school was closing since January. That’s when she expected to receive a re-enrollment packet for her son, now in Kindergarten at the school.
“There’s always been talk, and the population around here has gone down quite a bit,” Corley said. “It’s disappointing; I was looking forward to him building the friendships that I did in Catholic school.”
When she was in school, Corley said she remembers having two classes of about 25 students per grade, and the entire student body would pose in a panoramic picture each year. There are 14 students in her son’s class, she said.
This year, 13,717 students attend the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s schools, down from 14,303 students in the 2007-08 school year, according to Sister Carla Marie Lusch, superintendent of Catholic schools here.
Part of that decline, Lusch said, is due to the loss of a $50 million private voucher program funded by Dr. James Leininger that paid tuition for about 1,000 students in local Catholic schools. The program ended with the 2007-08 school year.
And while two schools near the city’s center will close their doors after this year, the $10 million John Paul II High School will open next fall to 75 students from Converse, New Braunfels, Schertz and Seguin, and an elementary school will open next fall in Jourdanton, Cantú said.
The migration of families out of urban areas nationwide, combined with higher payroll costs and fewer families that can afford the $3,000 to $8,000 annual tuition, has caused dioceses across the country to make difficult decisions.
According to Brian Gray, a spokesman for the National Catholic Education Association, enrollment in Catholic schools nation-wide dropped about 3 percent from last school year to this school year, down to about 1 million students.
“The diocese of New York City, Brooklyn, and a number of others have already announced closings,” said Gray, “but we won’t know for sure how many will close until school starts in the fall.”
St. Joseph Catholic School was founded by the Franciscan Friars in 1950, and hit its enrollment peak with 310 students in 1989. Once neighboring Kelly Air Force Base closed, school staff struggled to maintain a healthy student body.
In 1942, St. Mary Magdalen School was opened and expanded quickly to serve more than 970 students, according to Archdiocese of San Antonio spokesman Deacon Pat Rodgers. After 15 years, St. John the Evangelist School opened nearby to handle additional students and hit its enrollment peak of 329 students in 1993.
The consolidation will cause St. Mary Magdalen’s student body to grow from 175 to at least 250, Rodgers said.
Schools (http://http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Two_Catholic_schools_slated_to_close_next_year.htm l)
After years of struggling with declining enrollment, the Archdiocese of San Antonio announced that two of its 44 Catholic schools will not open next fall.
St. Joseph Catholic School, which serves 111 students on the city’s South Side, will close after the 2008-09 school year. St. John the Evangelist School, which has a current enrollment of 134, will consolidate into St. Mary Magdalen, located nearby in the North Central part of town.
About 25 teachers and administrators at St. Joseph and St. John could lose their jobs next fall, said Bishop Oscar Cantú, and staff will help them prepare their resumes to get hired elsewhere.
“The situation of the Catholic schools has changed tremendously over the past 50 years,” Cantú said. “Particularly difficult has been the maintaining of Catholic schools in the inner cities of metropolitan areas across the nation.”
Kathy Corley, who graduated from St. Joseph in 1983, said she’s had a hunch the school was closing since January. That’s when she expected to receive a re-enrollment packet for her son, now in Kindergarten at the school.
“There’s always been talk, and the population around here has gone down quite a bit,” Corley said. “It’s disappointing; I was looking forward to him building the friendships that I did in Catholic school.”
When she was in school, Corley said she remembers having two classes of about 25 students per grade, and the entire student body would pose in a panoramic picture each year. There are 14 students in her son’s class, she said.
This year, 13,717 students attend the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s schools, down from 14,303 students in the 2007-08 school year, according to Sister Carla Marie Lusch, superintendent of Catholic schools here.
Part of that decline, Lusch said, is due to the loss of a $50 million private voucher program funded by Dr. James Leininger that paid tuition for about 1,000 students in local Catholic schools. The program ended with the 2007-08 school year.
And while two schools near the city’s center will close their doors after this year, the $10 million John Paul II High School will open next fall to 75 students from Converse, New Braunfels, Schertz and Seguin, and an elementary school will open next fall in Jourdanton, Cantú said.
The migration of families out of urban areas nationwide, combined with higher payroll costs and fewer families that can afford the $3,000 to $8,000 annual tuition, has caused dioceses across the country to make difficult decisions.
According to Brian Gray, a spokesman for the National Catholic Education Association, enrollment in Catholic schools nation-wide dropped about 3 percent from last school year to this school year, down to about 1 million students.
“The diocese of New York City, Brooklyn, and a number of others have already announced closings,” said Gray, “but we won’t know for sure how many will close until school starts in the fall.”
St. Joseph Catholic School was founded by the Franciscan Friars in 1950, and hit its enrollment peak with 310 students in 1989. Once neighboring Kelly Air Force Base closed, school staff struggled to maintain a healthy student body.
In 1942, St. Mary Magdalen School was opened and expanded quickly to serve more than 970 students, according to Archdiocese of San Antonio spokesman Deacon Pat Rodgers. After 15 years, St. John the Evangelist School opened nearby to handle additional students and hit its enrollment peak of 329 students in 1993.
The consolidation will cause St. Mary Magdalen’s student body to grow from 175 to at least 250, Rodgers said.
Schools (http://http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Two_Catholic_schools_slated_to_close_next_year.htm l)