All Hallows Excessive Faculty will shut completely in June after over 100 years.
Picture courtesy All Hallows
Join our Bronx Occasions electronic mail e-newsletter to get information, updates, and native insights delivered straight to your inbox!
The choices for Catholic training within the Bronx and surrounding areas proceed to shrink, as three longstanding Bronx colleges introduced plans to shut on the finish of the educational yr. This follows the Archdiocese of New York’s February 2023 resolution to shutter 12 colleges citywide, together with six within the Bronx.
The most recent closures will see three longstanding Bronx establishments shut down: All Hallows Excessive Faculty, established in 1909, Sacred Coronary heart Faculty in Highbridge, which has operated since 1926, and Immaculate Conception Faculty in Melrose, since 1854.
All Hallows, a personal (non-archdiocesan) college close to Yankee Stadium, introduced it would graduate its final class of scholars this June after a current fundraising marketing campaign failed to drag it again from the monetary brink.
The varsity cited “decades of financial distress and an aging building in need of systemic rehabilitation and upgrades” as the primary causes for the “painful but necessary” resolution. Households have been knowledgeable Jan. 16, and each All Hallows workers and the Archdiocese pledged to assist households enroll in different Catholic colleges.
The specter of closure loomed for “quite some time,” in line with the announcement. All Hallows is at present working at a deficit of $1.7 million, which is projected to exceed $2 million by subsequent yr. The varsity additionally cited challenges with holding tuition manageable amid the rising prices of training per scholar: tuition is $7,500 however the price per scholar is $11,000, in line with the discharge.
Enrollment at All Hallows has additionally declined by one-third over the previous three years, and even going co-ed didn’t give the numbers sufficient of a lift. Presently there are 325 college students, in comparison with 514 in 2018.
The varsity additionally pointed to the ageing constructing, which requires a “complete overhaul” {of electrical}, plumbing, roofing and extra, in addition to a decline in giving.
“We continually and collaboratively explored a number of possibilities to remain operational, but none of them provided a financially viable pathway,” mentioned Brother Patrick Moffett, chair of the board of trustees, within the launch.
“While the decision to close this remarkable institution is deeply saddening, we honor its legacy of cultivating generations of faith-filled leaders who have positively impacted our communities and the world,” mentioned Sister Mary Grace Walsh, superintendent of faculties for the Archdiocese of New York.
Sacred Coronary heart Faculty in Highbridge and Immaculate Conception Faculty in Melrose, each affiliated with the archdiocese, additionally introduced closures on Jan. 17.
Brilla Colleges constitution community will take over each buildings and provides enrollment lottery desire to present college students and households of Sacred Coronary heart, Immaculate Conception and some other colleges which might be closing, in line with a spokesperson for the community.
Brilla will even present an non-obligatory Catholic extended-day program utilizing the El Camino Catechesis Curriculum, which “will allow the continuation of nurturing faith, values, and a sense of community in meaningful ways,” mentioned Walsh in an announcement.
“We recognize that this announcement may bring mixed emotions—gratitude for the decades of Catholic education and sadness as we close this chapter in these schools’ history.”
This story was up to date Jan. 20 at 11:30 a.m. to incorporate particulars offered by a Brilla community spokesperson and to appropriate the date of Sacred Coronary heart’s opening.
