Queen of Peace High School Announces Closing After 55 Years

BURBANK, IL -- After 55 years, Queen of Peace High School announced that it will be closing its doors at the end of the current term. The Roman Catholic school for girls was established by the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters in 1962 and provided a mission-driven, college preparatory education for more than 15,000 young women since it’s opening in Burbank

“This has been a most difficult and heart-breaking decision,” said Anne O’Malley, president of Queen of Peace and a 1975 alumna. “The financial realities and declining enrollment over the past 10 years make it impossible to sustain a superior four-year academic experience for the bright and deserving young women of Chicago’s South Side.”

O’Malley went to say in a written statement that the high school’s board of directors, with the approval of the Sponsor’s Council and the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation, determined that the school will discontinue operations as of June 2017.”

While the annual cost to educate each student is $15,500, tuition at Queen of Peace is set at $10,500. More than 60 percent of students attending the girls’ Catholic high school require financial assistance throughout their four years of high school.

“We appreciate all of our invaluable donors and longtime supporters but we simply have not been able to raise the more than $1 million above-and-beyond tuition required each year to continue to ensure a quality education,” O’Malley said.

Designed to accommodate 1,400 students in the 1960s, the school currently has an enrollment of 288. “We have a wonderful campus and excellent faculty providing challenging advanced placement classes and an innovative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curricula introduced in 2015,” O’Malley said. “It is truly a loss to no longer be able to provide these opportunities for the talented young women who are destined to become our future leaders.”

The high school has initiated a transition team to help students identify the best options for completion of their high school education. Personalized recommendations will be provided for schools based on academics, extracurricular activities and interests, and personal match. Two school fairs will be held for students and parents to meet with representatives of other Archdiocese schools. A transition fund will assist students requiring financial aid to complete their Catholic high school education.

“We are working hard to provide solutions to help ease the transition for our girls with a personal profile developed for each student to provide a good path forward. Nothing is perfect but we hope it will help,” O’Malley said. “We continue to believe in the potential of each Queen of Peace student to reach for the stars and achieve her dreams just as so many of our remarkable alumnae have done since our first graduating class of 1966.”