CONFIRMED: Sacred Heart Elementary to Close

UPDATED 1/6/11 @ 4:20 p.m.

According to the full report from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at www.faithinthefuture.com, Sacred Heart Elementary in Royersford will be closing and sending its enrollment of 189 students to St. Eleanor in Collegeville. The website states:

Currently there are 156 elementary and/or regional schools. Approximately 40 to 45 of them cannot be sustained, burdened by serious annual operating deficits often in parishes with heavy accumulated debts. Most of those schools have small enrollments and do not offer the key elements of a 21^st century curriculum. A detailed review of these challenged schools reveals 34 schools have enrollments fewer than 200 and of these, 14 have fewer than 150. Eleven other schools across the Archdiocese have more than 200 students but have demonstrated a pattern of decreasing enrollments and financial deficits and are therefore considered challenged. We urge that a partnering and regionalizing plan for these schools be implemented as soon as possible.

According to the plan on the website, Sacred Heart has a current enrollment capacity of 81 percent, while St. Eleanor is at 74 percent. There are six programs at Sacred Heart without full-time faculty, while only one program at St. Eleanor is without full-time faculty.

So, the conclusion for the two schools is a merger into one Regional Catholic School "to be determined by Sacred Heart/St. Eleanor's Joint Implementation Team." The location will be at 701 Locust St. in Collegeville, which is six miles from Sacred Heart's Walnut Street location in Royersford.

The projected enrollment will be 687 students and full-time faculty would cover all educational programs.

ORIGINAL POST

According to a list released by the Philadelphia Inquirer, School, located on Walnut Street in Royersford, is one of the Catholic schools set to close. It will merge with St. Eleanor's in Collegeville.

The list, according to the Inquirer, has four Catholic high schools on it, as well as 44 elementary schools. is not on that list.

The archdiocese will conduct a news conference at 4 p.m. It can be viewed live on Patch.