Final Bell Tolls For Incarnation School

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL -- After 54 wonderful years, the school bell tolled for the last time Monday morning, calling students to class at Incarnation Catholic School in Palos Heights. Incarnation is one of five Catholic grammar schools being shuttered by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Students from kindergarten all the way up to eighth grade celebrated the day with a picnic, together for the last time.

“The picnic was awesome,” said Andrea Covert, one of a core group of parents who tried to save the school from closing. “We had jumpies and food vendors. It was a great atmosphere for the kids.”

Incarnation School opened its doors in 1964. Back in the day, on the last Sunday in January, parents started lining up early to enroll their children at Incarnation. A plea to combine the student bodies of Incarnation and Our Lady of the Ridge in Chicago Ridge, which is also also closing, was denied.

Each student received a special an Incarnation T-shirt marking the years of the school’s existence -- 1964 to 2018 -- imploring students to go make a difference in the world. The Crestwood Fire Department sprayed their fire hose as students danced in the spray. There were bean bag tournaments, food vendors and cotton candy.

When the picnic was over, students went back into the school building to receive their report cards. Their teachers, many of them Incarnation alumni, walked the students out of the building. It was the end of the era.

“That’s when it hit them. That’s when it hit all of us,” Covert said. “There were lots of tears between teachers and students, boys and girls.:

Covert’s son, Trent, will be entering eighth grade at a new school in the fall. Incarnation’s seventh grade class are scattering to different schools.

“I’m always happy about last day of school and summer but today this just feels kind of weird,” said Trent.

The bell rings for the last time at Incarnation School.

Video created by and used with permission of Andrea Covert