Diocese to merge high schools

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

St. Peter-Marian and Holy Name Central Catholic Junior-Senior High Schools will merge for the 2020-21 academic year, in response to declining enrollment, David Perda, superintendent of schools, announced Wednesday.
He was making the announcement after consultation with the Diocesan Catholic Schools Board and with Bishop McManus’ blessing, he said in a letter to students’ families.
“I am convinced that the only way to move forward to grow our Catholic secondary education in Worcester is with a new vision,” Bishop McManus said in a press release.
“We have reached the point where either facility has more than ample space to accommodate the total enrollments of both schools with room to spare,” Martin Green, chairman of the Diocesan Catholic Schools Board, said in the press release. “It would be a far better use of financial and human resources to consolidate and put more resources into furthering educational opportunities at one facility.”
Superintendent Perda met with both schools’ leaders Wednesday afternoon at the Chancery, before heading to a meeting at St. Peter-Marian with faculty and staff from both schools to deliver the news.
“You kind of know that it’s coming, but the day that you hear the words it’s emotional,” he told The Catholic Free Press between meetings. “We’re trying to be as sensitive as we can. People are worried about their jobs,” and about the students and parents.
He said he won’t have answers about jobs until he knows what the enrollment will be.
“We’re trying to put people at ease – stay positive and dream big about what this new school can be,” he said. “We can be bigger, better and have a brighter future together.”
“Along with my leadership team and the Catholic Schools Board, my office has engaged the professional services of nationally known and experienced industry consultants,” Superintendent Perda said. “During the Christmas break, we will deploy a team of engineers and building specialists to conduct site assessments at both Holy Name and St. Peter-Marian … to determine which present campus should serve as the future site of the new school.”
When the site is announced, families will be informed of what they may need to consider when choosing where to register their students next year, he said.
Listening sessions will be conducted in early 2020 to get input from parents, faculty, staff, students, clergy, alumni and supporters, he said in his letter.
     “It is important to all of us for there to be dialogue on how this transformation will unfold, including input about the name of the merged school,” he said.
    A decision about which campus to use for the new central Catholic junior/senior high school will be made by March, and stakeholders can give suggestions for the school’s name, Superintendent Perda said in the letter.
    The intention is to sell a property and reinvest the money in the new school, he said.
    Once a site selection is made, financial aid applications can be made, and by early April families should be notified of aid granted.
    Offering an explanation of the situation in his letter, Superintendent Perda said the most important goal given to him when Bishop McManus appointed him in 2017 was “to ensure the long-term vitality of our Catholic school system as challenged by declining enrollments.” The trend has played out most notably in the two central Catholic high schools in Worcester, he said.
    St. Peter-Marian’s enrollment decreased nearly 66 percent in 15 years, from 1,043 students in 2004-05 to 358 in 2019-20, he said. Holy Name’s enrollment decreased 42 percent, from 876 to 507 during the same period. He said declines at both schools would be steeper without increased reliance on international students.
    Superintendent Perda said that in response to enrollment trends, he appointed Michael Clark as associate superintendent of secondary schools in 2018. Mr. Clark, a key member of his leadership team, has brought increased efficiency across schools and worked to make them more collaborative, he said.
    Mr. Clark said that, demographically, there are fewer school-aged young people, and enrollments are declining even in higher education.
    “We have two healthy school communities,” he told The Catholic Free Press. “Bringing them together would equip a single school to be able to meet our future needs with long-term viability.” This is not a case of two “limping” schools, but of taking the best and repurposing it, he said.    
    Benefits of the merger which Superintendent Perda listed in his letter included “reinvesting in our mission of catechesis and evangelization through a robust proclamation of the Gospel” and “providing students with an authentically Catholic education that prepares them to pass on their faith to others.”
    Other benefits include continuing to prepare students for higher education and professions with a work ethic grounded in Catholic values and offering a revised program of studies, a more diverse array of extracurricular activities, increased compensation levels to attract and retain the best educators and physical plant enhancement.
    “Innovative and caring educators have faithfully served at Holy Name and St. Peter-Marian over these challenging years, blessing this Diocese as faith-filled stewards of Catholic education,” Superintendent Perda said. “The generous support of benefactors, alumni, and friends has made it possible to sustain each school despite the all too real demographic shifts.”
    He told families in the letter that they have chosen Catholic education, and he expressed hope that the friendships, experiences, and joys born of that choice have exceeded their expectations.  
    “As we embark on a new chapter in the life of Catholic education … I ask for you to sustain that hope, trusting in the great opportunity of what may come through our collective efforts and prayer,” he said. He asked them to pray for “our central Catholic school community.”
    Bishop McManus said, “Change is difficult but we must be prudent with the resources that are available and focus on the future for these young people. Both as a priest and a bishop, I have personally experienced how Catholic education is a vital ministry in the life of a Diocesan Church and I thank God for the many staff, volunteers and families who have invested of themselves and made sacrifices for the good of our students.”