A few days ago Dr. K. posted a bulletin excerpt from Peace of Christ Parish which referred to the decline of Catholic schools in Metropolitan Rochester. While not mentioning a precise year, the snippet stated there were once 21 “urban” Catholic schools on the east side of the river and another 14 on the west.
Matthew Clark was installed as Bishop of the Diocese of Rochester in 1979 so that seemed like an interesting year on which to base an historic look at DOR’s Catholic schools. That year’s edition of the Official Catholic Directory showed a total 40 Catholic schools listed under what it termed “Metropolitan Rochester,” 21 of them on the east side and 19 on the west. Also listed were another 9 Monroe County Schools in the OCD’s “Outside Metropolitan Rochester” category. A list of those 49 schools and their 1979 enrollments follows.
Monroe County Catholic Schools - 1979
School City/Town Students Total
Annunciation Rochester 196
Blessed Sacrament Rochester 138
Corpus Christi Rochester 210
Holy Apostles Rochester 289
Holy Cross Rochester 282
Holy Family Rochester 131
Holy Rosary Rochester 330
Most Precious Blood Rochester 225
Our Lady of Good Counsel Rochester 266
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Rochester 226
Sacred Heart Rochester 423
St. Ambrose Rochester 620
St. Andrew Rochester 380
St. Anthony of Padua Rochester 193
St. Augustine Rochester 339
St. Boniface Rochester 260
St. John the Evangelist Rochester 299
St. Monica Rochester 315
St. Philip Neri Rochester 271
St. Salome Rochester 247
St. Stanislaus Rochester 250
Our Lady of Lourdes Brighton 180
Our Lady Queen of Peace Brighton 96
St. Anne Brighton 210
St. Thomas More Brighton 201
St. Pius Tenth Chili 588
Holy Ghost Gates 290
St. Helen Gates 415
St. Theodore Gates 455
Our Lady of Mercy Greece 170
Our Mother of Sorrows Greece 460
St. Charles Borromeo Greece 462
St. John the Evangelist Greece 425
St. Lawrence Greece 262
Guardian Angels Henrietta 200
Christ the King Irondequoit 250
St. Cecilia Irondequoit 455
St. James Irondequoit 242
St. Margaret Mary Irondequoit 300
St. Thomas the Apostle Irondequoit 349
Total – Metro Rochester 11,900
Nativity of the B.V.M. Brockport 175
St. Jerome East Rochester 196
Good Shepherd Henrietta 350
St. Joseph Penfield 484
St. John of Rochester Perinton 209
St. Louis Pittsford 405
St. John the Evangelist Spencerport 265
Holy Trinity Webster 366
St. Rita West Webster 431
Total – Outside Metro Rochester 2,881
Total – Monroe County 14,781
There were also another 23 Catholic schools in the remaining 11 counties of DOR.
Catholic Schools Outside Monroe County - 1979
School City/Town Students Total
Holy Family Auburn 110
St. Hyacinth Auburn 194
St. Mary Auburn 283
St. Agnes Avon 137
St. Mary Bath 109
St. Mary Canandaigua 311
St. Vincent de Paul Corning 128
St. Mary Dansville 204
Our Lady of Lourdes Elmira 197
St. Casimir Elmira 205
St. Mary Elmira 267
St. Francis de Sales Geneva 288
St. Stephen Geneva 264
St. Ann Hornell 240
St. Mary Our Mother Horseheads 256
Immaculate Conception Ithaca 200
St. Michael Newark 338
St. Patrick Owego 124
St. Michael Penn Yan 151
St. Patrick Seneca Falls 258
St. Mary Waterloo 241
St. James Waverly 128
St. Joseph Wayland 120
Total - Outside Monroe County 4,753
Total - All DOR Elementary Schools (1979) 19,534
As seen above, these 72 Catholic elementary schools were educating a total of 19,534 students in 1979.
Fast-foward to 2010
The 2010 edition of the OCD is the latest one available. It shows that last year the diocese had 24 Catholic elementary schools, 11 of which were combined into the Monroe County Catholic School system which did not break down enrollment by school but, instead, provided the OCD with a summary number.
All DOR Catholic Schools (2010) School City/Town Students Total Monroe County Catholic Schools - Comprised of 3,446 Christ the King Irondequoit Cathedral School at Holy Rosary (formerly Holy Rosary) Rochester Seton Catholic (formerly Our Lady of Lourdes) Brighton Our Mother of Sorrows Greece St. John Neumann (formerly St. Ambrose) Rochester St. Joseph Penfield St. Lawrence Greece St. Louis Pittsford St. Pius X Chili St. Rita West Webster Siena Catholic Academy (formerly St. Thomas More) Brighton Total - Monroe County 3,446 St. Joseph Auburn 173 St. Agnes Avon 123 St. Mary Canandaigua 202 All Saints Academy Corning 129 Holy Family Elmira 144 Holy Family Middle Elmira 98 St. Francis de Sales Geneva 130 St. Ann Hornell 86 St. Mary Our Mother Horseheads 98 Immaculate Conception Ithaca 106 St. Michael Newark 120 St. Patrick Owego 61 St. Michael Penn Yan 114 Total - Outside Monroe County 1,584 Total - All DOR Elementary Schools (2010) 5,030
As the above data shows, the Diocese of Rochester has closed 48 (66.7%) of its 72 Catholic elementary schools and has lost 14,504 (74.3%) of its 19,534 Catholic school students in the first 31 years of Matthew Clark’s tenure as Bishop of Rochester.
It would seem thus difficult to assert that Catholic schools have been high on Bishop Clark’s list of priorities these last 31 years.
UPDATE: I realize the 3 tables above are in a font size so small as to make reading difficult for some. This seems to be due to a limitation inherent in the WordPress software we use at Cleansing Fire that I have not been able to find a way around.
Those desiring a larger font size may view these tables in PDF format. Click here.
Tags: Catholic Schools
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Mike, this is a fantastic piece of work. I can’t wait to share it more widely. The demise of the next generation has been meticulously planned and executed. God have mercy, Diane
One excuse for closing schools is finances. Where did all the Wegman money go? We never got any accounting for that. Perhaps the Wegman family knows something we don’t and that’s why they refused to give again. Where is the exhorbitant amount of money in parish subsidies going? We don’t have an accounting for that either. Less kids; less schools; more money going to Buffalo Road. Lisa Passero and Father Hart need to explain. (I doubt that will happen, though.)
Just because a Catholic School is open does not mean Catholic parents are going to send their children there. My wife and are both went to Catholic Schools and we choose to send our four kids to public schools because we live in a great school district and honestly feel our kids are getting a much better education than they can in any Catholic School (that is not meant to be a slam against Catholic Schools but it is our perception). I know our reasoning for not going Catholic Schools is shared by most of my friends from grammar and high school as I see their kids attending public schools. This is another issue Catholics Schools have to contend with besides the cost.
I was a Catholic school teacher who sent her children to public school for financial reasons. My children would have received no tuition remission because I taught for the diocese at a much lower salary than my public school counterparts. I take issue with the idea that the education in public school is superior to Catholic school. Yes, there are services available for special needs children and there are more “extras” available, but the teaching of the basics is comparable, if not better than, the public schools. And parish religious education programs are a very unsatisfactory substitute for the religious training in Catholic schools. (I taught religious ed to public school students for years. Most students and their parents did not take the classes seriously and retention of concepts was extremely lacking because they were not reinforced at home.)
A few observations from one who was a teacher then ( and now) in the catholic School System:
1) Catholic families were larger in 1979
2) If a family was Catholic it was just assumed that its children would go to Catholic school
3)On par with salaries Catholic School tuition was relatively more affordable ( due in large part to the pitifully low salaries of its teachers. In 1979 I was making $7000.00.Even then that was pathetic–but it kept tuition down.)
4)Parents in the suburbs and parts of the city are less likely today to see the value in Catholic education ( even Rel. Ed. programs in parishes)or in taking their children to Mass, or in even sacramental preparation.It is a different culture today from 1979.
In a recent study conducted by the DoR , Catholic parents of school age children overwhelmingly listed “Religion” as their lowest priority for sending their children to catholic school. I would hazard a guess ( and since I was in the trenches then I have a pretty good handle on this)that in 1979 Religion would have been up there near the top.
As far as the Wegman money is concerned, when Bob died the money began to dry up. As the urban Catholic schools closed, the Wegman $ also did. It was intended for inner-city, poor students. There aren’t many at St. Joseph’s or St. Louis..so they wouldn’t be recipients.
Danny Wegman is concentrating more on his Alma Mater ( McQuaid) and Bob Wegman’s money is tied up with AQ ( his Alma Mater).
So rather than have “conspiracy theories” abound, let’s look at the facts: Bishop Clark and Fr. Joe Hart have made a bigger mess out of a situation that wasn’t healthy to begin with. They relied way too heavily on “businessmen” and their business ethic which is in many cases irreconcilable. They didn’t really value the connection between catholic School education and evangelization–They dropped the ball.
And as a side note…I am not so sure that our Catholic School students are any better Catholics than their public school counterparts. After all, Catholic schools are not intended to take the place of true catechesis, which ideally should be family based (Pope John Paul II reminded us so eloquently that parents are the first to bring a child to God), but to fine tune what is already there.
How many high schools has Bishop Clark closed in the past 31 years?
All Wichita, Kansas Catholic schools have eliminated tuition for Catholic students. Their Bishop supports Catholic education.
Dan,
In 1979 DOR had only one Catholic high school under its direct control (De Sales in Geneva) and that school is still open.
The other 8 Catholic high schools in DOR in 1979 were under private control of one form or another. Three of them have since closed (St. Agnes, Cardinal Mooney and Nazareth Academy) and 5 remain open (Aquinas, Bishop Kearney, McQuaid and Our Lady of Mercy – all in Monroe County – and Notre Dame in Elmira).
I would like to know when the Diocese “took over” Catholic Schools, how much “cash” and other liquid assets were on their balance sheets AND now that the leftover schools are returning to parish control (e.g. St. Louis in Pittsford) how much cash and liquid asset is being returned to the parish? Did Diocesan control enrich the position of the school or skim its money?
militia,
From my post of August 31, 2010 …
As to the details of the financial transactions involved, if any, I have no information.
WOW!!when i’ve thought about it,it has bothered me ..but looking at the numbers above(having been one of the pupils in a counted school) im floored.Its funny i just saw a series on youtubeArchbishop Leferbve addressing people in Ottawa & speaking of Catholics sending their children to public/protestant schools..you send children to Catholic schools to mainly to help form their faith..not for college placements,advanced classes,a trade or sports (ie Aquinas).In saying that i know of many children i went to elementary Catholic school with & are no longer practicing Catholics if Catholics at all.
This fine article sheds much light on the priorites in the DoR and why our Catholic schools and parishes are falling apart:
Redistributing Wealth
Just a note: Some Catholic school students weren’t counted. For Corning in 1979, only St. Vincent’s (where I was) is listed. 128 sounds right. St. Mary’s in Corning, which covered the south side of the city, is not listed. It was a K-8, which might be why it didn’t show up in the stats. Their K-5 population was about the same as St. Vincent’s.
It’s likely there were other schools in the diocese in 1979 which weren’t covered in these stats, meaning even more Catholic students.
Danny Wegman did graduate from McQuaid..and he is NOT giving more to AQ. Get your facts straight. Also, all the Catholic high schools in the Rochester Diocese are operated independently from the Bishop. They have Boards of Trustees.
Again, it is clear that the diocesan office of Catholic Schools really screwed up–almost all of the staff from 5 years ago is gone. They are an incompetent group of idiots who spend way more money and time on frivolities than on the essentials. Bishop Clark and Fr. hart really do not want the “bother” of diocesan schools. In 1994 they messed up with the “quadrant” system and now they want to backtrack. What a mess!
However..where are the Catholic parents? Where is the support from the pews?
Susan,
That’s very interesting. I just went back and checked the 1979 OCD to make sure I didn’t miss St. Mary’s – and I didn’t. The parish is listed, but there’s no school-related data reported.
Anon. 7:09,
I know of one instance where roughly 250 parents tried to tell Bishop Clark and his MCCS superintendent that they were about to make a very stupid move and neither one was willing to listen to them.
I wrote about it here two years ago. The pertinent paragraphs follow …
Correction to chart above, in 1979 Corning had two Catholic Schools, St. Vincent De Paul (k-5)
and St. Mary(k-8).
Anon. 9:57,
See Susan’s comment and my reply, both above.
I have no idea why the St. Mary’s school data is not listed in the 1979 OCD, but it’s simply not there. See for yourself (here), starting at the bottom of the left-most column.
Hi Mike,
I think there were two schools in Elmira at the time that aren’t in the table either: St. Patrick’s and St. Anthony’s. Interesting.
Can you verify the fact that Cardinal Mooney High School may have been owned by the Diocese of Rochester. Thousands of families and individuals in the diocese donated money for the construction of the school.
Bishop Matthew Clark has been blamed for many years for the closing of the school and sale to the Greece School District.
Dan,
I recall the fund drive but I have no recollection of what entity was actually collecting the money – whether it was the diocese, the Brothers of the Holy Cross or someone else.
A little searching with Google uncovered a blog devoted to Cardinal Mooney (see here). It has a copy of a June 4, 1989 D&C article reporting on an interview with Bishop Clark where he is quoted as saying,
FWIW, that “long tradition” the bishop spoke about dates back to the late 1930s when Aquinas, originally a diocesan high school, was transferred to the Basilian Fathers.
Dan,
That last comment was from me. I didn’t realize I wasn’t logged in.
Don’t forget the students at Archangels and St John Bosco Schools. About 100 students at each school. Archangels has been in existence for 20 or so years and SJBS for 3.
Archangel school is K-12. With 100 students. K-12…
What’s your point?
Anons. 7:00 & 7:27,
I’m well aware of Archangel (and John Bosco), but in this post we’re only looking at the elementary schools operated by either parishes or the diocese. Sorry if I wasn’t too clear about that.
I am curious to find out if Bishop Clark ended up with a portion of the millions of dollars from the sale of Cardinal Mooney High School.
I noticed in Bishop Clark’s interview that there is no indication of who will get the money from the sale of the school. What is the big secret? The parishioners in the Diocese of Rochester paid for the school.
Bishop Clark played the “blame someone else” game in the closing and sale of Mooney. He became a master at that game with all of the school closings and the parishioners believed him for about 20 years, until he was exposed on the Internet.
Dan,
You need to find someone who contributed to the fund drive to build the school and ask them to whom they made their check payable. If it was to the diocese, then they’ve got a gripe with the diocese. If it was to the Brothers of the Holy Cross, then they’ve got a gripe with the brothers. And even if it was to the diocese, DOR could have later transferred or sold the school to the brothers, so their gripe would still be with the brothers.
The first article on the Mooney blog I mentioned above appears to be from a 1960 Greece paper and it says the school was being built by the diocese. That might mean the diocese was the original owner and it might not (local newspapers, in my experience, frequently get such details wrong).
You could settle the issue by going to the Greece town assessors office and research ownership of the property prior to the school district buying it. That might go some distance towards resolving your conspiracy theory one way or the other.
Dan,
Here is the property on the Monroe County site. You’ll probably have to check with Greece Town Hall officials to get ownership history.