Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Local Catholic School To Close

When I was growing up here, there were three all-girls Catholic schools and at least two all-boys. Today, one of those boys schools is now co-ed, and one of the girls schools is closed.

There was big news in Sacramento today--after 54 years, another of the all-girls schools is going to close in June.

Loretto High School, an all-girls Catholic school, will shutter its campus at the end of this school year, administrators announced this morning. They blame declining enrollment.

Three years ago, enrollment at Loretto was 559, according to the California Department of Education. It fell to 389 this year. And registration for the school's annual entrance exam, which usually attracts 175 potential students, only attracted 80, foretelling further enrollment declines next year...

Loretto is expected to graduate 127 seniors in June, according a news release on the school's website. That will leave 262 juniors, sophomores and freshmen who need to enroll at a different campus. Thirty-two teachers, 19 support staff and six administrators work at Loretto. Some are expected to retire, the release states, but the majority will be unemployed after the end of the year.


There was excitement in some quarters on our campus today, with the thought that perhaps we'd get some of those high-performing students.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm sure the male students are excited too, cause they know they're going to have more female students

Ellen K said...

Catholic Schools are struggling here as well. The kids will attend though eighth grade, and after that their parents can't afford the tuition. JohnPaul II here in the far north Dallas area projected enrollment of 2000 by this year. They are struggling to make it to 800. And it's a shame, because for some kids the more sheltered and gentler nature of private school is a safety net. Plus, many private schools offer scholarships for students who would otherwise languish in the mediocre situations of some of our underperforming schools. I see these schools as lifelines for kids that are into academics. It's a slice of life that is fading like so much from the worthy part of our past.