St. Joseph's School to Close

Pastor Michael Saporito announced from the pulpit this weekend that St. Joseph's School--the parish school for St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church--will be closing its doors after the 2009-2010 school session ends this June.

Parishioners reported that Saporito made the unhappy announcement after Saturday's vigil Mass and Sunday's Masses. Saporito stated that closing the school was the hardest decision he has had to make as pastor of St. Joseph's Church on Prospect Street in Maplewood.

The parish receptionist referred Patch to Archdiocese of Newark Director of Communications Jim Goodness for more information. Goodness confirmed that, indeed, the school would be closing. "The way enrollments were going and costs were increasing, there was no way to continue without a significant subsidy from the parish in the six-figure range," said Goodness. He noted that parish leaders consulted with the Archdiocesan schools office and financial office before making the decision.

Enrollment at St. Joseph's School for 2009-2010 was 165 students, down from 219 in 1999-2000 (although enrollment had hit 310 as recently as 2003). Annual tuition was about $4,600 per student.

Goodness said that there are currently about 130 elementary and high schools in the Archdiocese of Newark's school system. However, with five schools closing across the Archdiocese's area of Essex, Bergen, Hudson and Union counties, that number will be more like 125 in September. Goodness noted that 11 years ago, there were 176 schools in the Archdiocese. He also said that, whereas the Archdiocese was in the position 10 or 15 years ago to provide subsidies to schools, that was no longer the case in recent years.

Goodness said that CCD instruction would continue--religious education that is provided after school and on weekends to help parishioners make their sacraments. He said that the school building would be used for CCD and other parish activities.

For now, however, the focus is on "getting the students and their families through the last month of school and trying to transition them to other schools." Goodness said the Archdiocese would provide information and hold open houses for St. Joseph families at other area schools such as Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange and Hillside Catholic.