The students of St. Aloysius High School in Jersey City will not be returning in September.
The Archdiocese of Newark decided last year that St. Aloysius High, wracked by rising expenses and shrinking enrollment, would close – although the high school’s companion elementary school will remain open.
St. Aloysius High School has been an education institution in Jersey City for 83 years. The St. Aloysius parish has existed since May 12, 1897.
Now that the high school is leaving the third and fourth floor of 721 Westside Ave., the St. Aloysius Grammar School, which is presently located on the first two floors of the building, will take over the third floor.
“There’s not that many schools left in Jersey City,” said Elizabeth Garcia, a grandmother to a graduating senior.Mixed emotions
This past Friday, 66 seniors graduated at St. Aloysius Church, looking proud as cameras flashed.
“St. Aloysius is closing, but we take solace in the fact that the St. Aloysius spirit will remain in each of us,” said valedictorian Tamara Esther Whitehouse in her graduation speech.
The Archdiocese of Newark recognized the top three students in the class: Whitehouse, Justin Christoffer Corpuz, and Mapett S. del Rosario.
Whitehouse added in her speech, “In some schools, teachers are there only to teach. Here they listen to students’ problems. Here they listen to students jokes and crack a few of their own.”
Whitehouse will be attending New York University in September.
Christopher and Katrina Hicks, twin siblings, won the Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete Award. Katrina Hicks was also honored with the School Spirit Award for her service to the community and the school as Student Council leader.
Thomas R. Gentile, the ex-principal for St. Aloysius, said in a speech that members of the St. Aloysius community were “Once a cardinal, always a cardinal,” referring to the school’s mascot, the strong-billed red bird that also represents high-ranking officials in the Catholic faith. The students responded to Gentile’s closing remark with a resounding roar.
According to the school’s website, the mascot represents the development of students into “leaders of faith, integrity, and scholarship.” An uncertain future
Jon M. Levinson, the dean of students, said last week that he has no idea where he will work next. He said if he had known a year earlier that St. Aloysius was closing, he would have returned to school and gotten his master’s degree.
Levinson said that he feels bad for all of the students, including the freshmen that came in “good faith” and eighth graders in primary schools who took the Cooperative Admissions exam with the hope of attending St. Aloysius High.
“We we’re still getting tons of phone calls from people who wanted information,” said Levinson.
Levinson hopes there will be a group of St. Aloysius students and at least one faculty member at each local Catholic high school that students will transfer to, in order to give support during the transition to other schools.
Tionna Simmons, 14, is a freshman who still does not know which school she will attend in the fall. She owes tuition money and will have to continue paying her debt to a school she can no longer attend.
“I’m mad,” exclaimed Simmons. “It’s my freshman year and they should have told me before.”
Armando Montas, 18, who will be attending Marist High School in Bayonne in the fall, said last week, “I’m really behind and it’s hard to start over at a new school.”
Sophomore Monet Jones, 16, said that she felt she had wasted her time attending St. Aloysius because she will likely have to transfer back to the high school she left last year.
“I transferred from Marist to here, and I don’t know why,” said Jones.
Jones said she would nevertheless miss the time spent at St. Aloysius.
Curtis Cooper, 19, agreed.
“I feel good being the last class to graduate in Saint Aloysius history,” he said. “I wish it was open so I could go back and visit,” Cooper said. ‘We have no choice but to leave’
History teacher Timothy Mahoney said there were too many area alternatives for high school, and many parents cannot afford a Catholic education anymore.
The tuition at St. Aloysius for the 2006/2007 school year was $4,800. In 2000 it was almost half that amount.
“It was inevitable,” said Mahoney. “The demographics, economics, and climate are changing in Jersey City.”
Daniella Santiago, a 16-year-old junior, will be attending Caritas Academy in Jersey City, which came into existence in September 2006 when St. Aloysius Academy and Academy of the Sacred Heart merged.
Santiago said that even though everything happens for a reason, leaving still hurts.
“Other high schools got to merge. We’re the only ones closing,” said Santiago. “We have no choice but to leave.” Both students and faculty have questioned why they were not allowed to merge with another high school.
“My personal opinion is that we’re closing because [the Archdiocese of Newark] can cram more elementary schools here,” said Levinson. “They will close other elementary schools, and this is where all of those kids can go.”
Father Richard J. Kelly, pastor to the parish, explained that the high school would have a $500,000 deficit, assuming that 165 students enrolled in next year’s freshman class. Kelly said that the tuition would have to be raised from $5,800 to $7,000 just to stay open.
The Mitler Group is a consulting firm hired by the Archdiocese of Newark to help decide which city Catholic high schools would remain open.
“With a high enrollment you can give a variety of programs,” Kelly said last week. “When you’re a small school that keeps getting smaller, it’s hard.” Teachers remember
Andrew Berube has taught classical studies, Latin, and accounting at the school over the last 43 years.
“I never thought that I would outlive the school,” said Berube.
Nicole Zadroga, who taught physical science at St. Aloysius from September 2001 until June 2003, said last week that Berube had taught more people in Hudson County than any other teacher.
“It’s a shame,” said Zadroga. “The fact is that there are really good teachers here that aren’t going to find new places to go.”
“Not only are you a part of this place, but this place is a part of you,” said Levinson. “Everyone that has walked these halls before you is a part of you.”
Some faculty and students agreed that the school’s cardinal spirit will outlive the life of their residence in the building.
“When one door closes, another door opens,” said Santiago.