A little over two years ago, Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City was an educational institution on the precipice of closing – but students, parents, teachers, and other supporters of the school pitched in to keep it open.
Now, as part of the survival plan, the school entered a new chapter this fall. For the first time, girls are a part of the student body.
Out of a current enrollment of 397 students, 72 are female. Forty-two of those are freshmen and the rest are transfers. The tuition is $7,700 per student this year.
“It feels good to be in the first class.” – Casey Lourenco
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The school now has a performing arts program with a variety of classes chaired by first-year teacher Aileen Quinn, longtime stage and screen actress better known as the star of the 1982 movie Annie.
Also, new facilities such as women’s lockers had to be installed and there are new sports teams such as girls’ volleyball and basketball on the agenda.
Girls say they’re adjusting
At the school, located on Bergen Avenue near Journal Square, female students are adjusting to a new environment.
One of them is 17-year-old Casey Lourenco, an outgoing senior transfer from the all-girls Holy Family Academy in Bayonne. She commutes daily from Harrison.
“It feels good to be in the first class,” Lourenco said. “They are very accommodating to the needs of the girls coming into the school.”
Exploring their feminine side
Rev. Hall, an ordained priest and educator who graduated from the school in 1981, says that the transition from an all-boys school has been smoother than expected.
“Initially, it was kind of a novelty to see the girls practicing volleyball and the cheerleaders in the gym prior to the opening of school,” Hall said. “Now that we gone through the first week, it has become very natural with the girls in the uniforms, and everyone seems to be getting along.”
Hall said that last year, workshops were held with faculty and students to prepare for the entering female class.
Also, the school committed to a $500,000 makeover including a new dance studio, security cameras, and public address system.
Hall also said the girls will provide a push for the male students to work harder academically, saying they are “serious students.”
“When we had our opening ceremony, our guest speaker, [State Superior Court] Judge Shirley Tolentino, said it won’t be just be students learning from teachers, but gender learning from gender,” Hall said.
Getting along
Lourenco had a pronounced advantage over many of her fellow female students. She had already been a featured actress in the past four plays produced by the school’s drama club, so she got to know her future classmates ahead of time.
She is already enthused by the possibilities of a performing arts curriculum, as well as other interests.
“I was thinking about joining some sport, and I thought about something cool like wrestling or paintball,” Lourenco said, laughing.
Sean Sanabria, 16, a junior who is also a varsity wrestler, welcomed the opportunity for Lourenco to join one of the lightweight levels. He was also open to the changes in the student body.
“With girls coming in, it’s better for us,” Sanabria said. “When people just learn with guys, and then have to go into the real world and work with women, they don’t know how to act.”
Lourenco interjected, “They learn to act like gentlemen.”
Tim Brennan, who teaches the freshmen English class and is the director of public relations, remembers when he was a Hudson Catholic student in the 1980s. Even then, there was interest in going coed.
“I like the mix of students as a teacher, and more so there is a need for coed schools,” he said.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.