Cardinal McCarrick High School In Middlesex County Will Close In June

Cardinal McCarrick High School in South Amboy will close in June, the Diocese of Metuchen has announced.

Incoming students will have the option of going to Bishop Ahr High School in Edison, a notice posted on the diocese’s website said.

“This is a very difficult and emotional decision and was not taken lightly by anyone involved,” said Ellen Ayoub, diocesan Superintendent of Schools said in a prepared statement. “It was not just one factor that led to the decision. The accumulated weight of so many issues indicated that there was no option but to close the school.”

The school, which opened in 1885, is the oldest Catholic high school in the Diocese of Metuchen, and its students come from more than 20 surrounding communities, according to its website.

The school, once known as St. Mary’s High School, was renamed for Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Now the cardinal of the Archdiocese of Washington, he was the first bishop of the Metuchen Diocese.

“The decision to close Cardinal McCarrick/St. Mary’s High School was made by the diocesan Office of Schools, in consultation with the diocesan Department of Temporal Affairs and the Diocesan Catholic Schools Commission, and was accepted by Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski,’’ the notice said.

According to that notice:

At full capacity, the school could enroll almost 500 students, but only 210 have registered for the 2015-16 school year.

“That is not enough to keep the high school open,’’ the notice said.

The diminishing enrollment was just one reason officials decided to close the school.

Officials also cited “an ongoing need for capital improvements, and changing demographics, resulting in fewer area families who are choosing to send their children to the high school. There also is a growing need for new technology and other academic advances.”

The diocese has subsidized the school - at a rate of about $1.8 million a year - but it cannot continue that investment.

Bishop Ahr has about 750 students currently enrolled, and its larger campus has updated facilities, expanded academic programs, and more technology.

That school will hold information sessions for Cardinal McCarrick students and their parents on May 28, June 3 and June 8. Parents can call 732-549-1108 for more information.