St. Joan Of Arc To Become Independent Catholic School

CHICAGO — The Archdiocese of Chicago has granted approval for the first independent Catholic school in northern Cook County, as a group of Evanston and Skokie parents and parishioners banded together to save a school that risked closure due to declining enrollment and an operating deficit.

The Academy at St. Joan of Arc announced plans to launch in the fall at the existing St. Joan of Arc school. The pre-K through eighth-grade school is located at 9245 N. Lawndale Ave. in an area known as Skevanston — within Skokie's municipal boundaries but Evanston's postal and school districts. Last fall, the archdiocese informed parents of the school's potential closure as a result of shrinking class sizes.

"Despite our best efforts, the enrollment and financial situations in our school have not improved," wrote St. Joan of Arc Pastor Dan Costello in last month's parish bulletin. "However, a group of parishoners have worked diligently over several months in planning and meeting with the Office of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese," winning the blessing of Cardinal Blase Cupich in January. "We can all be grateful that a Catholic school will continue to exist in our local community."

The school community has put together a plan for an independent nine-member governing board to run the school, raising more than $900,000, the Chicago Tribune reported. The board will pay to rent the space from the parish and the school will remain at the parish.

“The Academy of St. Joan of Arc is a wonderful example of a community’s support for Catholic education," said Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic schools in the archdiocese, in a statement." I wish the school the very best of success.”

St. Joan of Arc school opened in 1953 with 143 students in kindergarten through sixth grade and four nuns as its faculty. By 1964, enrollment had risen to 448 students and the school had added seventh and eighth grades, according to a parish history. St. Joan of Arc was awarded a National Blue Ribbon School award in 2013.

According to the enrollment data provided to the Illinois State Board of Education, the school had 229 students in the 2012–13 school year and 202 in 2017–18.

In recent years, several suburban Catholic schools in the north suburbs have been shuttered by the archdiocese, including Holy Cross School in Deerfield, St. James School in Highwood and St. Cyprian in River Grove.

Last year, as part of the "Renew My Church" initiative, the archdiocese announced the merger of four North Shore parishes — St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Northfield and Sacred Heart Parish in Winnetka combined to form Divine Mercy Parish last July, while St. Francis Xavier Parish and St. Joseph Parish will form a single parish this July.

There are currently 33 Catholic high schools and 176 Catholic elementary schools in the area, according to Archdiocese of Chicago Communications Director Anne Maselli. Only four high schools are run by the archdiocese, the other 29 are independent. But there are currently only seven independent elementary schools in the archdiocese. They include Chicago Jesuit Academy, San Miguel, Sacred Heart Schools in Rogers Park, The Frances Xavier Warde School and St. Nicholas Ukrainian Cathedral School in Chicago, East Lake Academy in Lake Forest and Everest Academy in Chicago.