Boston archdiocese merging two schools

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is merging the last two parochial schools in South Boston, St. Brigid and Gate of Heaven. I have a story in today's paper. An excerpt:

"Over the last decade, the number of parochial elementary schools in the archdiocese has dropped by 23 percent, from 119 to 91. In an effort to stem the decline, the archdiocese has launched an initiative, backed by a group of wealthy business leaders, to invest in consolidated Catholic schools in Brockton, Dorchester, and Gloucester."

And here's the text of a statement from the archdiocese:

"Over the past three years the School Boards of Gate of Heaven School and St. Brigid School have been working together to strengthen Catholic Education in South Boston. This is due to factors that include, among others, financial constraints, changing demographics and declining enrollments. Working cooperatively, the two schools established a "Collaborative Board", which has been meeting every month for nearly a year and one half to plan and establish a vision for the future. This Board, representative of both schools and parishes as well as the pastor, came to an agreement last year that in order to provide quality and affordable Catholic education in our neighborhood we needed to combine and become one school. It was agreed upon that both schools would form a new school, with a new name that would open at one of the existing locations in September 2009. This information was presented to the parents of both schools and parishioners a number of times during the past six months. Since that announcement, the Collaborative Board has been meeting to prepare information regarding the future location of this new school. After careful consideration and discussion, the pastor has recommended to the Cardinal and he has accepted that the current St. Brigid School be the location of this new school. The collaborative board was presented this recommendation last evening and they are in full support of this decision. The new school will open in September 2009. We are confident that this decision will greatly enhance our ability to strengthen and improve Catholic Education in South Boston. It is the hope and prayer of the Parishes of St. Brigid and Gate of Heaven that we can work together to provide a superior Catholic Elementary School, building upon the strong history of our two parish communities."

(Photo above, by Wendy Maeda of the Globe staff, shows teacher Shannon Keating talking with 7th-graders Kerri Bemis and Chloe Fay at the Gate of Heaven School on Sept. 11, 2008.)