MILLBROOK — St. Joseph School has been hit with the devastating news that it will close in June, along with 21 other Catholic schools in New York state.
The Archdiocese of New York released a list of 26 regionalized, parish and archdiocesan elementary schools that were at risk of closure in November 2012; on Jan. 23 it announced which schools will actually be shut.
During that short period, schools had time to plan for ways to support themselves with less funding from the Archdiocese if they were selected to remain open, but St. Joseph wasn’t able to make the cut.
During the weeks leading up to the decision, St. Joseph School’s administration, teachers, students, parents and the greater Millbrook community tried to raise money and devise a long-term plan for sustainability. It did not meet with success. Only four schools on the list of 26 were saved from closure, including one in Dutchess County —Regina Coeli in Hyde Park. The St. Joseph community struggled with the news.
“We have been here for 56 years and have educated so many children, and they have accomplished great things in their lives,” said Rosalie Fegan, principal of St. Joseph School. “They come back to visit us, and it’s so wonderful to be a part of this great family.
“I think of all that is being affected. The children east of us will have no other Catholic school to go to. The parents will have to drive at least an hour to find a school for them,” Fegan added. “It’s just makes it difficult to think that they are being turned out into the world. It’s very sad.”
St. Joseph School has roughly 100 children from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, with students from Dover, Wingdale and Amenia, as well as from throughout the Harlem Valley. Fegan said the closest Catholic School is 25 miles away for children in the area.
Making matters more difficult is that there is no busing available for many students, because many students from St. Joseph are outside the 15-mile busing limit to other Catholic schools.
Since all of St. Joseph’s teachers belong to a union, there will be provisions to take care of them when the school closes. Fegan said they have the ability to join a list the Archdiocese provides through the union for schools that need specifically trained teachers.
“It’s very hard on them; some of them are sole supporters of their families,” said Fegan. “We have widows, so it’s a real challenge for them.”
After receiving the news the school would officially be closing, she informed parents, who then told their children, said Fegan. By Wednesday the school joined its pastor to pray together and talk about the rest of the year.
Fegan said the administration and teachers are going to do their best to make the rest of the year happy and productive.
“We have a lot of things planned. We want to be able to give them joy, and we are just keeping our heads up being here for them,” said Fegan. “Of course when someone comes and gives you a hug, you break down in tears, so it’s a challenge.”
Parent Charlotte Grasso has two children currently enrolled at St. Joseph School, one in eighth grade and the other in seventh. Grasso said that her seventh-grader will have to miss out on all the privileges of being an eighth-grader, in addition to having to start over at a new school.
“He is going to have a lot of changes, and he is not a child that does well with changes,” Grasso said. “Like most children, they like their friends and they are used to things. It is going to be very hard for them.”
Grasso said her children’s education from St. Joseph has always been good. Her sons have excelled in math, English and language skills. As a Stanfordville resident, Grasso said that her sons have no other Catholic school available to them in their busing district.
St. Joseph School raised a substantial amount of money — a total of $269,000 in pledges — to save the school. Fegan said the school produced a sound plan for introducing a strong academic reading program, setting them apart from many other private and public schools.
Fegan said the plan included a summer program that would be all-profit because it would be all-volunteer. St. Joseph also anticipated its annual fundraisers throughout the year to raise much-needed capital.
“We always knew we needed more people [enrolled]; it’s not totally out the blue,” said Grasso. “But they should have given us more time to collect our wits and do good fundraisers to be able to reach out to more people in the community and surrounding areas to help us out. Three weeks wasn’t much time to do much of anything.”
Saying goodbye to St. Joseph School also means saying goodbye to the business it brought to the Millbrook community. Grasso said that every business in town is going to be affected by the closure.
“We ordered pizzas when our oven was broken down,” said Grasso. “We stopped in Stewart’s for ice cream after events; people pick up their milk, bread and eggs. When we pick up our kids we stop somewhere in town. It’s going to hurt everybody in town, including the library. We would walk up to the library to do stuff. So they are going to be missing out on that.”
Fegan said over the next couple of months the teachers will make sure they do everything they can to be productive and prepare students for the change.
All the donations (not pledges) raised over the three weeks will go to something special for the students of St. Joseph. Fegan said she wants St. Joseph’s legacy to be that there is still a glimmer of hope, and she’s still hoping for a miracle and that the school will be able to stay open another 56 years.
“Children came here to learn their faith, they lived their faith and they became faithful adults,” said Fegan. “Because that’s us, we are not a public school so we have many strengths academically. But I think if they leave here with a strong sense of their faith that will be the most important thing, and of course they know that we love them dearly.”
