Parents, communities mourn closure of decades-old Catholic schools
Former students of the Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Ellwood City frequently share memories of the time they spent there.
Being called up to the front of the classroom to diagram sentences on the chalkboard stands out for many, the Rev. Mark Thomas said with a laugh. Many also talk about their favorites of the nuns who used to run the school, formerly called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary School.
“It was an environment with Jesus, and faith was an important part of learning,” Father Thomas said. “They went to Mass once a week, typically on Friday. There was prayer every day and there was a very strong sense of morality and belonging. They have very, very warm memories of
what they experienced here.”
The school bell rang for the last time last week, when the school closed for good after 71 years and thousands of students. Father Thomas, pastor of the Ellwood City parish that supported the school, said some members were surprised when the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced in February that the school would be closing. Others were not, given that the kindergarten through-sixth grade school’s enrollment had dropped to just 42 students.
Overall, student enrollment in Pittsburgh diocesan schools has dropped by about 50 percent since 2000, prompting the diocese to make moves to stem the plummeting enrollment, stabilize tuition and reignite growth in Catholic education. St. Bartholomew Catholic School in Penn Hills also closed for good Friday. St. Ursula Catholic School in Hampton will be absorbed into a new school formed as part of the “regionalization” of Catholic elementary schools in the North Hills.
“I’m sure there will be a time where they’ll feel the excitement more palpably,” the Rev. Lawrence Adams, pastor of St. Ursula’s, said of his parishioners. “But it’s like a loss in the family. So, I think right now we’re walking through that.”
St. Ursula was founded in a two-room schoolhouse in 1911, two years after the parish was established, according to the diocese. Until 1953, St. Ursula’s was run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore, and later the Vincentian Sisters of Charity. A new school building was expanded in 1957 to accommodate the school’s growing student population. Currently, the school enrolls just 87 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, down from 171 a decade ago.
“The writing has been on the wall for a while,” said Colleen Ruefle, whose four children attended St. Ursula.
Her youngest son, Liam, will be in seventh grade next year at Blessed Trinity Academy, the school that will be formed as a result of the consolidation of St. Ursula, St. Bonaventure Catholic School in Shaler and St. Mary of the Assumption in Indiana Township.
Parents and parishioners have had about a year to prepare emotionally for the closure of the school, Ms. Ruefle said. Earlier this month, the school put on a final musical performance at a retirement community and after the show, a 94-year-old woman shared memories of her time as a student at St. Ursula, Ms. Ruefle said.
“You’re losing that community that you’ve been a part of for so long,” she said. “We were all sad, but we’ve had a long time to prepare for it. I think most of us are grateful for one last year.”
Emotions have been raw the past two weeks among parents and parishioners at St. Bartholomew in Penn Hills, where they have had much less time to process the closure of their school.
“It’s really emotional,” said Jason Jablon, a parent of two students and the school’s volunteer athletic director. He said he has written about a dozen reference letters for teachers who will be without jobs next year.
His daughter, who is in third grade, and his son, who is in kindergarten, will attend St. Bernadette Catholic School in Monroeville, Mr. Jablon said. He said he initially had no intention of sending his children to a Catholic, private school, but when he and his wife toured St. Bart’s five years ago, they were attracted to the welcoming, family-like atmosphere.
“The second I walked out, I looked at my wife and said, ‘This is the place for our kids,’” he said.
Parents found out in April that the school was in financial trouble and that they could expect a tuition increase for next year. They were shocked May 19 when the diocese announced it would be closing St. Bart’s.
The school opened in 1954 for students in first through third grade. Eventually, it added grades four through eight, a kindergarten class in 1979 and a preschool in 1988. At its peak, according to the diocese, St. Bart’s enrolled about 1,500 students. Now, 114 students are enrolled at the school and only 46 of them also attend the parish church.
“To use the word heartbroken is not an exaggeration,” Mr. Jablon said about the closure.
The Rev. Edward Wichman, parish administrator at St. Bartholomew, said he became aware of the school’s dire financial situation when he took up the position in December. The school had about $220,000 in debt due to insurance benefits for teachers, which was expected to increase to $300,000 by June, he said. To make ends meet, about 120 students would have to enroll -— and pay a $2,000 tuition increase — by April 28.
Enrollment figures at the end of April fell short, Father Wichman said, and parents’ proposals for fundraisers wouldn’t have raised enough money in time.
“It just didn’t seem like this was going to work out,” Fr. Wichman said.
The school changes are part of the larger On Mission for the Church Alive! restructuring plan, in which the Pittsburgh diocese is attempting to combine an evangelistic push with the need to get leaner. The “regionalization” of schools in the North Hills, in which 11 schools were consolidated into eight and are now overseen by a non-profit board and a regional administrator, will eventually take place among the other diocesan schools.
Bishop David Zubik announced in May which parishes and churches would be “grouped” beginning next year as part of the On Mission plan.
“We celebrate the lasting legacy of these schools in forming young people to grow in faith and make a difference in their communities and in the world,” said the Rev. Nick Vaskov, executive director of communications for the diocese. “While it is hard to see these schools close, the responsibility of forming our youth will continue as the diocese works to strengthen Catholic education through regionalization of our elementary schools.”
Many of the students at Holy Redeemer plan to attend St. Gregory Catholic School in Zelienople, Father Thomas said. Based on tentative parish groupings, Holy Redeemer Church will merge with St. Gregory and St. Ferdinand in Cranberry.
“We will still have a school, if that grouping comes to pass,” Father Thomas said. “We will still be involved in the life of the children in a Catholic school.”
“You’re losing that community that you’ve been a part of for so long. We were all sad, but we’ve had a long time to prepare for it. I think most of us are grateful for one last year.” — Colleen Ruefle, whose four children attended St. Ursula
Elizabeth Behrman: Lbehrman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1590.