By Andrew Coen
In the past 10 years, the school, at 620 Central Ave. in Cedarhurst, which houses students from kindergarten through eighth grade, has experienced a 53 percent decrease in enrollment. Currently it has 123 students - and only 13 eighth-graders, according to the Rev. Paul Rahilly, spiritual leader of St. Joachim R.C. Church. "It came down to one word: enrollment," said Rahilly. "We've been on the edge for several years."
The school, which has been supported by a small parish of 722 registered families, has only four students who live in the Five Towns. Virtually all the others live in Far Rockaway, and less than 25 percent are Catholics, according to Rahilly. Catholics who live in Nassau County are in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, while residents in Queens and Brooklyn are in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
When it was learned that next year's enrollment would only be 130 students, the Diocese of Rockville Centre decided that the school could no longer continue to operate financially, according to diocese spokesman Sean P. Dolan. Rahilly said that letters were sent to parents on April 7 to inform them of the closing, and teachers addressed the news with students on April 11. Registration fees paid to the school in anticipation of the 2005-06 academic year will be returned. "Everyone is sad, but we're realists," said Rahilly.
The school dates to 1913, when the Sisters of St. Joseph's founded it for students in Lawrence and Cedarhurst, starting with an eighth-grade graduating class of 12 in 1916. St. Joachim reached its peak in the 1950s and early 1960s when the school's enrollment reached as high as 280. After drops in enrollment, the school was revived by the closing of Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Inwood in 1972, which allowed St. Joachim to expand its student body outside Lawrence and Cedarhurst. When St. Joseph's Catholic School in Hewlett closed in 1992, St. Joachim expanded enrollment to include the entire Five Towns, and eventually took in students from outside the Five Towns as well.
Rahilly credits Lawrence resident Joseph Candello, a former St. Joachim parent and a current school trustee, for helping keep the school going as it struggled with enrollment. "I feel bad for the students and parents that went there," said Candello, whose five children and six nieces and nephews attend the school. "The simplest fact is there's a lack of students."
Diocesan officials had hoped for a jump in enrollment as a result of recently announced school closings in the Diocese of Brooklyn, but that never materialized, according to Rahilly. "We have tried every way to encourage parents in the community and area communities to send their children to us," he said. "However, high tuition, the burden of transportation and extended fees have taken their toll."
According to Rahilly, all students have been guaranteed places in either the St. Mary Star of the Sea School in Far Rockaway, Our Lady of Peace School in Lynbrook, St. Raymond's School in East Rockaway or the Valley Stream Catholic schools Holy Name of Mary and Blessed Sacrament. The St. Joachim administration is assisting affected families in choosing alternative Catholic schools in both the Rockville Centre and Brooklyn dioceses. "We will make sure that every student in our school has an opportunity to continue their value-centered education in the Catholic school system," said Sister Barbara Yander, principal of St. Joachim.
The news of the closure comes shortly after the school launched an effort to soundproof the building from jet noise. The soundproofing project, funded by a grant from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, began on June 22, 2004, and was 90 percent complete after new windows were installed and the building's roof was replaced. Rahilly said the building would still house the church's religious school, and there are no current plans to sell the property.
St. Joachim is the third school closed this year by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which oversees Long Island's 57 Catholic elementary schools, with Holy Spirit School in New Hyde Park and Levittown's St. Bernard Catholic School also slated to be shut down due to decreasing enrollment.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
