It looks like you have a very strong financial case. I wish you the best.

I really feel for St. Anne's. I was close to registering my son there for Kindergarten and decided against it because of all of the religious instruction. I know it's not so simple, but I think the Archdiocese needs to evolve with the times. If the school offered a non-religious tract for those not interested in religious instruction, I think they would get more people to register. I mean, I get it... it's the Catholic Church, but if they want to keep their schools around they should start thinking creatively and offer what more people want and follow more of the Primary Prep model with religion thrown in for those who want it.

I really am pulling for this school and the Principal. I hope for the best.

St. Anne's School in Jersey City told by archdiocese it will close in June, school officials say

March 23, 2011, 3:28 PM
By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal

St. Anne's School in the Jersey City Heights -- more than $300,000 in debt -- has been told it will close at the end of the school year, parish officials said.

Parish officials, citing a tighter budget, are hopeful that the Archdiocese of Newark can be convinced to allow the school, at the corner of Congress Street and Kennedy Boulevard, it to remain open.

The school is $350,000 in debt to the archdiocese, which oversees all Catholic schools in Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties, said Jim Carroll, a trustee and the finance chairman of the parish.

Carroll said the school's annual budget is roughly $700,000 and he believes the parish can pay down the debt by roughly $20,000 to $30,000 a year, based on staffing cutbacks and other measures.

Carroll, who became finance chairman two years ago, said the school, which opened in 1904, had been operating at a deficit for a number of years. The archdiocese did not immediately return calls for comment.

St. Anne's currently has 228 students in nine grades, kindergarten through eighth grade. Tuition is $3,000 yearly for parishioners and $3,500 for non-parishioners.

Principal Gina Iacona said that 170 students have already registered for the 2011-12 school year, and the school normally gets a number of applications over the summer.

"We are not just a school, we are a family," Iacona said. "This is the students' home during the day. They are all cared for here."

Carroll, a Jersey City police sargeant and an attorney, said the entire parish is behind the effort to keep the school open, and a meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 28 at the parish's Centennial Hall to discuss the plans and to get input from the community. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m.

"I am cautiously optimistic we can keep the school open," Carroll said. "The parish knows that it would not be good for the parish if the school closed. They are all behind saving the school."

Iacona said it would also be a loss for the community.

"A lot of people would be very upset" if the school closed, she said. "The school is so deep-rooted in the community."

Over the past decade, a number of parochial schools in Hudson County have closed or consolidated with other schools. Hudson Catholic High School was on the brink of closure in 2008, but a massive fund-raising campaign by the school and its alumni convinced the archdiocese to allow it to stay open.

There isn?t much one can do about this? Parishes are closing or merging, and private enrolment has been in decline for ages now? My Church St. John?s also went thru this.. They didn?t have the enrolment to continue with the school, and then the Church was merged with Our Lady of Mount Carmel. They have decided to lease out the school and Golden Door Charter School is currently renovating it..

I think its for the best.. Sunday offerings are nowhere as it used to be, best thing most parishes can do is lease out the space to keep afloat.

ST ANNE'S SCHOOL IN JERSEY CITY NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!
Found out today they will close SAS at the end of this school year. There will be a meeting on Monday, March 28th at 6pm in Centennial Hall (school auditorium). Come and hear what the parish wants to do to help the school. WE NEED YOU! Spread the news to all you know and join us on the ..................28th. We want to pack the place & make our voices HEARD!