Our Lady of La Salette School to Close at End of School Year

Our Lady of La Salette School in Berkley will close at the end of the current academic year due to declining enrollment. The school presently has 73 students, after having seen a decrease in enrollment by 47 percent since the 2008-09 academic year. Parents were informed of the closure at a meeting Wednesday night.

Our Lady of La Salette School has been sponsored by Our Lady of La Salette Parish. Founded in 1943, the school had a peak enrollment of more than 1,000 students in the 1960s.

“It is with great sadness that we learn of the closing of Our Lady of La Salette School,” said Kimberly Young, interim superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit. “The parish and school community, including the parents, are to be commended for their many efforts over the years and for their strong commitment to Our Lady of La Salette School. It is always a very difficult decision for a parish to have to close a school, and it always is a decision of last resort.”

Our Lady of La Salette Parish plans to offer current school families tuition assistance to attend other Catholic schools in the area. There are five Catholic schools within a five-mile radius of Our Lady of La Salette School.

Including Our Lady of La Salette, there are 96 Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Detroit – 72 grade schools and 24 high schools – with a total enrollment of more than 30,000 students.