Schools

St. Agnes Principal on Closures: We Knew This Was Coming

Principal Helen Newman said she knew the diocese was discussing school closures, just not which ones.

St. Agnes Elementary School was not one of the six schools the Diocese of Rockville Centre announced it would close at the end of the 2011-12 school year on Tuesday, but school officials said they knew the announcement was coming, just not which schools would face closure.

"Honestly, we've been anticipating this," said Helen Newman, prinicipal of St. Agnes Elementary School. "The diocese has been studying different pieces of data in terms of enrollment projections and finances. We knew it was coming, but we believe in Catholic schools and feel for the families and children."

Newman said she wasn't concerned that St. Agnes would be one of the schools to close because it has a healthy and steady enrollment. "I didn't think it would affect us, but we feel for our neighboring schools," she said. "We're surprised that other schools weren't closing their doors. We're happy in a sense that neighboring schools will still offer a Catholic education."

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Newman said she spoke with some parents yesterday, and most were disappointed with the timing of the closures. "I'm not sure if they fully understand why it's happening now," she said.

Newman explained that though there is never a good time to close schools, the rationale behind doing it now is so when schools return after the Christmas break and host open houses, families who had children in one of the six closed schools can determine their options.

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the Diocese of RVC website, the six schools that will close at the end of the 2011-12 school year are:

  • St. John Baptist de La Salle Regional School (Farmingdale)
  • St. Catherine of Sienna School (Franklin Square)
  • St. Ignatius Loyola School (Hicksville)
  • Sacred Heart School (North Merrick)
  • Our Lady of Perpetual Help School (Lindenhurst)
  • Prince of Peace Regional School (Sayville)

The decision to close the six schools was arrived at for various reasons, including what Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy described as "changing demographics and difficult national and local economic conditions."

Murphy also said that his Bishop’s Advisory Committee on Catholic Education completed a thorough evaluation of each of the elementary schools on Long Island. The evaluation took into account enrollment and school age demographic trends, the financial position of schools and parishes, and a review of the facilities, technology and programs offered.

According to Sean P. Dolan, director of communications for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, "Instead of closing individual schools each year like in the past, this time the Bishop wanted to develop a strategic plan for elementary education that would look at what we have today and what we need in the future."


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