< Back to front page Text size – +

Parochial school in Readville to close

E-mail|Link|Comments (1) Posted by Michael Paulson January 27, 2009 01:15 PM

The Archdiocese of Boston announced yesterday that it is closing St. Anne's School in the Readville section of Boston. The school's enrollment has been dropping rapidly -- from 136 in 2006 to 77 today -- and the school has been losing money. I have a story in today's Globe. And here is the statement from the archdiocese:

ST. ANNE SCHOOL READVILLE TO CLOSE IN JUNE
Despite a vigorous effort over the past several years to increase enrollment, St. Anne School, located at 20 Como Road, Readville, MA announced it will close at the conclusion of the current academic year in June 2009.

Changing demographics in school age populations nationally and locally as well as the challenges of the current economic downturn have had an immediate impact on the parish and school. A major consideration in announcing the closing has been a significant and sustained decline in enrollment since 2006. There currently are 77 students enrolled at St. Anne's School, down from 136 in 2006. Projected enrollments indicate that enrollment will continue to decline to fewer than 60 students by 2011. In addition, the parish is offsetting a current year school deficit of $130,000 in order to keep the school open until the end of the current school year with deficits projected to increase in future years.

In making the announcement, Rev. William F. Joyce, Pastor, St. Anne Parish said, "This decision comes after a valiant effort to keep St. Anne's School open. To our teachers, staff, and parents I say thank you for helping sustain us this long and for your outstanding commitment to our students, their families and Catholic education. We are blessed by the tremendous outpouring of support from neighboring Catholic schools who are opening their doors to make certain every student is guaranteed a seat in one of their classrooms. We will insure to provide for a smooth and seamless transition for families."

Working with parents, faculty, and the Catholic School Office of the Archdiocese of Boston, every student currently enrolled will be offered a seat in one of the neighboring Catholic schools.

Teachers and staff will have the opportunity to apply for other positions at Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Boston.

« Back to front page

1 comments so far...

As a parent with a first-grader at St. Anne School, I am left with two unanswered questions: I read here that the school is closing "despite a vigorous effort...to increase enrollment" (interestingly, the exact same language used in the press release announcing the closing of Our Lady of Lourdes in Jamaica Plain). What, exactly, were those "vigorous efforts"? The school has no website (the one that existed about 3 or 4 years ago disappeared), and never once have I seen an ad for the school in the HP Bulletin or the Boston Parents Paper.

I wonder, too, how the projected enrollment of 60 by 2011 was arrived at. Nobody asked me if we planned to stay and through what grade (yes, and sixth); nor did they ask me (or any one of the parents) if we have babies or toddlers or preschoolers who would be headed to St. Anne School. (At the meeting when we were informed of the closing, I was speaking with 3 other moms and, between us, we have seven children who would have been enrolled at St. Anne's within the next two to three years.)

Finally, I just need to say that this is happening too frequently; not necessarily the closings, which I do understand to be a sad result of the current economy and other factors. The way this is handled, though; all too often we read in the newspapers about a Catholic school closing, and the families seeming blindsided. The parents' meeting we had yesterday was too late; a parents' meeting should have been held last year to let us know exactly how dire the situation was, so that we could have fundraised even harder, could have put our own efforts into increasing enrollment, could have, perhaps, agreed to an increase in tuition (which nearly all of the parents I spoke to past night would have supported, and gladly; we'll all be paying higher tuition now anyway, and not at a school that we can walk to, a school that is, in fact, "home"). Our HSA was (still is, even in light of this news) active and committed, and I feel like our hands were tied this year with many of the initiatives that we tried to accomplish, knowing things weren't great, but not knowing exactly just how bad the situation was.

The teachers and the new principal at St. Anne are the best; any school will be blessed to have them. And even though my daughter attended for only two years (in the meeting room last night there were families who had attended St. Anne's for going on three generations, so I cannot even get close to their heartbreak at the closing), I have a feeling that they will be among the best school years that she will ever have.

And so the desperate plea: if there is anyone out there who can help us save our amazing little school, please, please help.

Posted by Ellen Noonan January 27, 09 07:53 PM

You must be logged in to submit a comment.

This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.

Blogger

Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

Articles of Faith on Twitter

Follow GlobePaulson on Twitter

views

Harvey Cox, the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard University, marks his retirement by asserting a little-used right of his professorship -- to graze a cow in Harvard Yard. Photo, by Barry Chin of the Globe staff, taken on Sept. 10, 2009 in Cambridge, Mass.