Catholic Schools: Trend Toward Consolidation

Major trends for northeast Catholic schools include a large increase in regionalized school systems and partnerships with outside Catholic agencies.

Many large Dioceses are creating regional or interparochial schools to offset declining enrollment and financial struggles. By consolidating, many of the schools state they able to increase resources, such as computer labs. The Boston Diocese also recently created a partnership with a Catholic University.

Across the nation in 2003, 123 Catholic schools were closed or consolidated in areas of declining enrollment while 34 new schools opened, according to statistics from the National Catholic Educational Association.

Here are several examples:

NEW JERSEY:

• MERCER COUNTY: TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: A few years ago, the Trenton Diocese consolidated all of its preK-8 schools into one school, now known as the Trenton Catholic Academy. Trenton Catholic Academy, a preK-12 Diocesan Regional school, is located in the heart of Hamilton, New Jersey at the McCorristin Campus that spreads across 62 acres, which was formerly the Kuser Estate. The main campus building houses classrooms, a gymnasium, three computer labs, a library, dining facilities and the administrative offices. The campus also includes a football stadium, two baseball diamonds, two softball fields, and two soccer fields. http://trentoncatholic.org/
• UNION COUNTY: HILLSIDE, NJ: Hillside Catholic Academy opened its doors on July 1, 2004. The school was formed by the merging of Christ the King School, Hillside and St. Catherine’s of Sienna School, Elizabeth.
• HUDSON COUNTY: HOBOKEN, NJ: Hoboken Catholic Academy is a Catholic elementary school for children Pre-K through Grade 8. The school is co-sponsored by the parishes of St. Ann's,Our Lady of Grace, St. Francis, St. Joseph andSts. Peter & Paul in Hoboken and St. Lawrence in Weehawken. The school has an enrollment of about 325 students with an average class size of 25 students.
• Archdiocese of Newark: BERGEN COUNTY, NJ: Transfiguration Academy represents a new model for Catholic school education which they believe will lead the way in academic excellence in the 21st Century. Co-sponsored by the parishes of St. Mary’s, Dumont, St. John’s, Bergenfield and Ascension, New Milford, the Academy says it offers an enhanced curriculum, extra-curricular activities and a new organizational structure. Through these enhancements they hope to attract more students at all grade levels, Pre-K 3 through the 8th Grade. In order to achieve this objective, they said they "enhanced the curriculum in the lower school, Pre-K3 to grade 4, at the Bergenfield campus and established a superior Middle School, at our New Milford location, for grades 5 through 8".
  (source http://www.transfigurationacademy.org)
• BERGEN COUNTY, NJ : Catholic Academy of Northern Valley: The parishioners of St. Joseph in Demarest, Sacred Heart in Haworth, and St. Mary in Closter combined their "energies, talents, financial resources and prayers to ensure the continued viability of quality Catholic education in our parishes". The school officially started on July 1, 2004 and serves students from Pre-K through 8th grade. (source:http://www.catholicacademynorthernvalley.org/)
• BERGEN COUNTY: Visitation Academy, formerly Our Lady of the Visitation School, was established as a parish school in 1958. In 1991, it became inter-parochial and are affiliated with three parishes, Our Lady of the Visitation and Annunciation, both in Paramus and Sacred Heart Church in Rochelle Park. Visitation Academy serves Grades PreK3 though grade 8.
• BERGEN COUNTY: St. John Academy began as St. John the Baptist Parish School in 1955. In 1997 the name was changed to St. John’s Academy to better reflect growth from a small parish school to an interparochial academic institution co-sponsored by four area parishes: (Source: http://www.sja-hillsdale.org/pages/about.html)
  St. John the BaptistHillsdale
  St. Andrew’s ChurchWestwood
  Our Lady Mother of the ChurchWoodcliff Lake
  St. Gabriel the ArchangelSaddle River
  

New York City, NY trends: Declining school enrollment and major parish realignment

2005, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn and Queens announced that 22 parochial schools in the two boroughs would close. Nine of those are in Queens -- none were high schools.

In Jan 2007: The Archdiocese of New York announced its parish realignment decisions. A committee of lay, religious, and clergy, known as the Archdiocesan Realignment Advisory Panel, reviewed all of the recommendations and made valuable suggestions. All parishes potentially affected by a realignment recommendation were given the opportunity to discuss their observations about the recommendation with Bishop Sullivan and his review committee. In all, ten parishes will be closed, and eleven parishes will merge with other parishes.

NENI will continue to monitor how this affects Catholic Schools in the area.

"These decisions are the culmination of an extensive three-year planning process, which involved long and careful consultation. This process, established by Edward Cardinal Egan, was designed to identify the religious, spiritual, and education needs of the Catholic faithful throughout the entire Archdiocese, and determine how those needs could best be met." according to a Jan 19, 2007 press release http://archny.org/news-events/news-press-releases/index.cfm?i=3501. Complete list of Archdiocesan parish realignment decisions

BOSTON, MASS: (Boston source: see full article in NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/us/24religion.html

• Boston is also consolidating its schools. St. Edith Stein and two other churches in this city of 94,000 about 25 miles south of Boston, are consolidating their schools, which together serve 500 children in kindergarten through eighth grade, and ceding control to a board of directors. The arrangement, which starts in September, will result in two newly renovated schools, one for lower grades and another for upper grades, at two different churches. (source: see full article in NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/us/24religion.html)
• Last year the Boston archdiocese partnered with Boston College to run a Boston elementary school, becoming the first diocese in the country to hand over educational responsibility to a university, said Sister Dale McDonald, director of public policy and education research for the National Catholic Education Association.