By Andrew Coen
Students were dismissed for the final time from the 92-year-old Cedarhurst Catholic school at around 11 a.m. on June 23, two months after the Diocese of Rockville Centre announced its plans to shut down the school as a result of a large drop in enrollment over the last decade.
St. Joachim, at 620 Central Ave., the only remaining Catholic school in the Five Towns, holds many memories for generations of students who have attended through the years. St. Joachim commemorated its last day with a prayer service and a tribute to its history. "We remembered our good times and gave thanks to our teachers," said the principal, Sister Barbara Yander, as she stood outside the school just before the students were dismissed.
Staff members finished packing up their belongings later that day.
Diocese of Rockville Centre officials cited a 53 percent decrease in enrollment over the last decade as the main reason for shutting the school. It enrolled 123 students in 2004-05 - less than 25 percent of them Catholics. And only four students lived in the Five Towns, according to officials.
"We've all been very emotional about our goodbyes," said Luniewski as she bade farewell to students and staff after school let out.
One student, eighth-grader Michael Forrester of Far Rockaway, said he would most remember how great the school's teachers were to him. "The teachers were very influential," he said.
Far Rockaway's Swagato Bhattacharm, one of 13 eighth-grade students in St. Joachim's final graduating class, described the last day of school as one filled with tears from many longtime teachers and staff. "Everyone is sad," said Bhattacharm, who will attend Brooklyn Tech next year.
St. Joachim's closing has forced parents to find new schools for their children next year, with help from administrators at the Cedarhurst Catholic school. The students will probably attend other Catholic schools within the Diocese of Rockville Centre or Brooklyn. "It's tough because [my son] has to make new friends," said Leslie Christie of Far Rockaway, whose son will attend St. Raymond's in East Rockaway next year. "I'm sorry to see it go for a lot of reasons."
St. Joachim students were guaranteed spots at St. Mary Star of the Sea School in Far Rockaway, Our Lady of Peace in Lynbrook, St. Raymond's in East Rockaway or Valley Stream's Holy Name of Mary or Blessed Sacrament.
St. Joachim School's history dates to 1913, when the sisters of St. Joseph's founded the school for students in Lawrence and Cedarhurst, starting out 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 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 its enrollment to include the entire Five Towns, and eventually took in students from outside the Five Towns area as well.
After learning of the school's closing, Cedarhurst resident and St. Joachim graduate Pat O'Connor reflected on the long history of the institution three generations of her family attended, including her aunt, who was in the school's first graduating class. "We thank you, St. Joachim School. You were a part of our history," O'Connor said.
St. Joachim was one of three schools that the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which oversees Long Island's 57 Catholic elementary schools, decided to close this year. Holy Spirit School in New Hyde Park and Levittown's St. Bernard Catholic School are also slated to be shut down because of declining enrollment. Diocese 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 St. Joachim officials.
St. Joachim R.C. Church still plans to utilize the first floor of the closed school for religious classes, but is unsure about the future of the remainder of the building, according to Yander.
Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise and St. Joachim church officials said that a large part of Cedarhurst's history will be lost, since the school dates back almost as long as the village, which was incorporated in 1910. "It's sad for all of us," said Parise. "It's the end of an era."
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
