St. Joe High School to Close in Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The county's only Catholic high school will close at the end of the school year.
In a message to parents released late Thursday, Sister Andrea Ciszewski, Springfield diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, said the 120-year-old St. Joseph Central High School will cease operations in June 2017.
"This was a decision made with the heaviest of hearts and only after years of hard work by the school's dedicated staff and board members, trying to respond to the increasing challenges we faced by shifting demographics and limited financial resources," Ciszewski stated in the letter.
"As trends in the church and society evolved throughout the years, so have the St. Joseph Central High School realities of a steadily increasing cost of education, a declining school enrollment, greater financial assistance needs, the overwhelming price of renovations and major repairs of an aging facility, and increased annual operational costs."
Opened in 1897 as St. Joseph's Academy, the high school has been struggling for some time, the victim of a sharp decline in enrollment. It's been lifted somewhat by international students but school officials say expected enrollment this year was below estimates. It had just 68 students in four grades and "a significant operational deficit."
The Diocese of Springfield says it has provided more than $4.5 million in funding in just the last five years and that it could no longer afford to fund these deficits.
Over the past several years, the high school's graduates have numbered in the 30s and 40s, with just 34 earning diplomas this past spring. The K-8 St. Mark's School closed in 2015. St. Stanislaus School in Adams, St. Agnes' Academy in Dalton and St. Mary's School in Lee, all elementary schools, are the last of what had been a thriving Catholic school system in the Berkshires.
"It was with great sadness that this decision had to be made, but not before many years of valiant efforts by the very dedicated board, faculty and staff of St. Joseph's," said Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski in a statement. "We had hoped to turn around the enrollment decline and financial deficit, but despite the very best and exemplary efforts of so many, the task proved unattainable. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who grieve the end of this great school."
The diocese said it will continue to provide financial assistance to families who wish their children to continue at a Catholic high school. The closest are Pope Francis High School (Cathedral) in Chicopee and St. Mary High Parish School in West Springfield.
Ciszewski said a listening and updating session for parents and students only will be held in the high school gymnasium at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20.
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