At the end of the year, St. Michael's School will suspend operations. This action has been in the making since November, when a consultation took place at the Church/School.
Here is a link to the Archdiocese of Washington: http://www.adw.org/query2011/newsite_news.asp?ID=970&Year=2012
As you remember, this was one of the schools on the chopping block in 2009.
As terrible as the closing of a Catholic school is, let's hope that this is the only one.
2 comments:
It's a shame to see catholic schools closing. The Archdiocese notes that it provided significant tuition assistance. The statement did not note the significant assistance provided by the parish though. The church should have been able to operate a successful school in Silver Spring. We believe that the Archdiocese has made strategic mistakes which have made it difficult for schools like St. Michael's to survive. No matter how much assistance was provided to St. Michael's, it would not come anywhere close to the assistance provided to the Catholic consortium schools. The Archdiocese poured millions into these schools only to see many of theme close. Even today, the effort to preserve schools that have practically no Catholic students dwarfs the effort to save schools like St. Michael's. Did you notice there was a statement from Deacon L'Homme, the Superintedent of schools, but nothing from the Secretary of Education, Thomas Burnford. Mr. Burnford, we are watching the situation involving Catholic education in the Archdiocese. Remember that brilliant idea you hatched to convert some failing Catholic schools into charter schools? Are you having a little trouble collecting the full rent from Center City Public Charter Schools Inc.? We are watching this situation, and we will report on it. It won't be in The Catholic Standard, but it will be reported nonetheless.
Interesting to note that after principal Charlie Eames was hired things started to really improve financially. Must have been a threat to the strategy for closing the school. They found an excuse to get rid of him. Pitiful.
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