Diocese continues closures, mergers

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is planning to close one Catholic school and merge two pairs of schools in the coming year.

Under the plans, being formally announced to affected parishioners atMasses Saturday and Sunday:

St. Rosalia School in Greenfield will close.

Assumption School in Bellevue will merge with Northside Catholic School in Brighton Heights. The merged school will operate at what is now the Northside campus under a name that will be determined later.

St. Bernadette and North American Martyrs schools in Monroeville will merge under the name Divine Mercy Academy. Both school buildings will remain open with students in grades K-8 attending the former St. Bernadette campus and preschoolers the former North American Martyrs campus.

Rough estimates of current enrollments of the schools are: Assumption, 100; Northside, 150; St. Rosalia, 100; St. Bernadette, 250 and North American Martyrs, 100.

The decision to close St. Rosalia was recommended by the pastor of the parish, the Rev. Joseph Reschick. Father Reschick, in a letter to Bishop David Zubik, cited a sharp decline in enrollment and substantial financial challenges as the reasons for his request to close the school.

The mergers are part of a diocese-wide consolidation of schools and parishes under a program called On Mission for the Church Alive.