St Scholastica School in Detroit to Close

St. Scholastica School in Detroit will not open for the 2012-13 school year due to a trend of dropping enrollment and rising deficits. The school currently has an enrollment of 85 students in first- through eighth-grade. The school۪s operating deficits over the past decade have totaled more than $2 million. The school has been subsidized by its sponsoring church community, St. Scholastica Parish.

As a community, we can and should take pride in the great blessing St. Scholastica School has been to countless families since it opened in 1939,۝ said Fr. Marc Syrenne, CC, pastor of St. Scholastica Parish, in a March 2 letter to school parents. The decision to close St. Scholastica School is extremely difficult for both our own community and for the Archdiocese a decision, no doubt, of last resort.۝

St. Scholastica School experienced a 36 percent drop in enrollment since the 2007-08 academic year, when it had 133 students attending. In its last full academic year of 2010-11, the school registered a deficit of more than $250,000. The Archdiocese of Detroit aided the parish with a $100,000 grant to allow the school to stay open for the current academic year.

We are saddened at the closing of St. Scholastica School, and realize this is difficult for the students, families, staff, and the entire parish community,۝ said Bernadette Sugrue, superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit. The Archdiocese is grateful for the dedicated efforts of all who have been involved with St. Scholastica School over the years, and for St. Scholastica Parish۪s steadfast support of its school.۝

Including St. Scholastica, the Archdiocese of Detroit presently has 71 elementary schools and 25 high schools. Other Catholic schools in the city of Detroit include Christ the King, Gesu, Holy Redeemer, Most Holy Trinity, St. Bartholomew, Detroit Cristo Rey High School, Loyola High School and University of Detroit Jesuit High School. More information on Catholic schools can be found at www.aodschools.org.