The Archdiocese of New York hopes that a pilot program launching in Bedford Park can address pandemic-fueled impacts that led to majors closures of Bronx catholic schools over the past few years.
The first of these Catholic education and family centers is expanding on education services offered at the 75-year-old St. Philip Neri School, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese told the Bronx Times. The St. Philip Neri Catholic Education and Family Center is aiming to meet educational needs of the nearby population, while also becoming a social hub hoping to address area food insecurity, housing and health issues.
In 2023, six Bronx catholic schools shut their doors, with four other Bronx schools merging into two. The archdiocese said that shifting demographics and lower enrollment rates — made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic — were the reasons behind the closures, which will come at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 school year.
The closures, which also included six in Manhattan and Staten Island, affect roughly 5% of students in the archdiocesan school system. St. Philip Neri, an elementary school, was unaffected by the school closures, and Archdiocese officials say they wanted to “add on” to existing Catholic school infrastructure, rather than plop a school into a district.
“This isn’t about adding something into the community, it’s about working with the community to add on to what we already have,” said Mary Stenson, deputy superintendent of the Archdiocese of New York. “It’s a good school, but all the realities of the past several years and the economic realities show us that it’s been hard to keep schools open. … This (program) allows us to put a little fertilizer on some good ground.”
It will take a minimum of three years for full construction of The St. Philip Neri Catholic Education and Family Center — including modernizing the aging building for environment challenges, making window and gym replacements, which carries a total cost…
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