What a shame. I've never met a nicer group of people. Too bad more parents weren't aware of it's existence.

I am really sorry to hear about St. Mary's HS. During Mass several years ago, I heard the pastor proudly tell the parishoners the number of scholarships the students amass for that graduating class. While I don't remember the amount it was alot for the number of students. As taxes go up, parents are faced with the reality of paying city hall or the child's tuition.

Second school in the last few days to announce that it's closing...



By Vishal Persaud
The Jersey Journal

Another Catholic school in Jersey City will close at the end of the school year, The Jersey Journal has learned.

Three days after St. Patrick?s and Assumption/All Saints grammar school officials announced it would close at the end of the school year, St. Mary High School in Downtown Jersey City has done the same.

The pastor of the parish submitted paperwork to the Archdiocese of Newark to officially receive approval to close down the school, said Tom Lalicato, vice principal of St. Mary.

The school has been plagued by diminishing enrollment and Saturday?s extremely low freshmen registration numbers sealed the school?s fate. Sources said that fewer than 15 students registered.

"You can?t financially sustain a school with a hundred students," said Lalicato.

St. Mary?s will graduate 72 seniors this June, which would have left the school?s enrollment at 93 among the remaining classes. Ten years ago St. Mary had 381 students, Lalicato said.

School officials sent letters home to parents today telling the bad news.

The archdiocese will hold an open house in the coming weeks for St. Mary students to meet with representatives from the other six Catholic schools in the county, said Jim Goodness, spokesman for the archdiocese.

At $4,300 a year, St. Mary?s had one of the lowest tuitions among Catholic high schools in the state, Lalicato said, and catered to families in need of good, affordable education. The median annual tuition for a Catholic school is almost $8,100, according to the archdiocese.

"These families are not well-to-do families, and (school officials have) tried to struggle to maintain something that is affordable for the students and families," said Goodness. "They just can?t do that anymore."