Three Southland Catholic schools will soon mark the end of their educational runs, but farewell events are expected to honor their legacies among the communities they served for decades.
Christ Our Savior School in South Holland, St. Ann School in Lansing and St. Joseph School in Summit are among four schools to be closed effective June 30, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced in late January. The fourth school slated to close is Sacred Heart in Melrose Park.
The news came as a shock to Claudia Mendez, who took over as principal at St. Joseph School last July. She said they knew the school was in danger of closing but did not think they got a fair chance to keep it afloat in the midst of a pandemic.
Mendez noted Catholic Schools Week, which started at the end of January, is usually a big push for registration, but the announcement came just before that. Alumni “came out of the woodwork” to raise funds to keep St. Joseph School going through its final year, but the efforts simply were not enough to save it, Mendez said.
St. Joseph School was founded in 1913, and expanded in the 1940s and ’50s to accommodate a growing parish. Mendez said going into the final stretch of the last school year, which was in person for most of the year, St. Joseph had 118 students. That dropped from 123 at the start of the school year.
“When the announcement was made, families left,” Mendez said.
Wednesday (June 2) is the last day of classes, but staff will remain until June 15. Of the 26 people who work there, some are staying in Catholic education while others are switching gears or retiring, Mendez said.
“It’s going to be very emotional for them,” Mendez said. “I think it was a help that we were in person. It helps them get some closure.”
St. Joseph memories
For Maureen Cervi, the closure will be emotional. She graduated from St. Joseph School in 1983, and remembers the school used to have one of the largest athletics programs in the area, particularly in football.
While she started her teaching career with Chicago Public Schools, in 2000 she moved to St. Camillus School, which closed last year, before moving to St. Joseph in 2005.
“It’s an amazing place,” Cervi said. “I’m glad I got to teach here. I think it made me a better teacher.”
She teaches science and has a seventh grade homeroom. Her own children have attended the school and celebrated sacraments in St. Joseph Parish.
“I’m utterly heartbroken,” Cervi said of the closure. “It has let down this entire community. Students and parents grew up with this school. There are second and third generations strong in this building. … I’m going to miss that so terribly.”
Cervi said they knew closure was a possibility, but she thought there may have been options to allow the school to remain open. Instead, she is applying to other schools, both Catholic and public. She said she hopes the St. Joseph community finds a way to stay connected.
“The relationships that were found in this building are long-lasting,” Cervi said. “It’s a family. This community was a big family.”
Cervi said parents have organized treats, parades and other fun to make this year special for students.
“Our parent club has gone above and beyond,” Cervi said. “The parent club worked so hard to make sure these students have great memories of their last year.”
Mendez said the original hope was many students would transfer to St. Daniel the Prophet School in Chicago’s Garfield Ridge neighborhood, but so many families dispersed. A survey indicated 80% of St. Joseph families would likely keep their children in Catholic education, but some were choosing St. Symphorosa School (also in Garfield Ridge) and spots farther west such as St. Cletus in La Grange.
“We’re grateful that the students and families have been able to learn and grow together and that they’re choosing Catholic education in their futures,” Mendez said.
St. Joseph Catholic School plans a car parade past the school on Saturday. Participants will meet for a tailgate from 10 a.m. to noon in the back parking lot at Summit Park, 5700 S. Archer Road, are encouraged to decorate vehicles, make posters and listen to a few speakers. Vehicles will line up about noon with the kickoff slated for 12:30 p.m. The route is south to 59th Street, then east 73rd Avenue and then north past the school.
‘Diversity and love’
When St. Ann School in Lansing closes, it will mark the end of seven decades. The school originally opened in 1950, with its first graduating class in 1951.
Janice Summerrise, the business manager, said she will miss the children and their families more than anything.
“This is the best job I ever had and I am truly devastated by the closure,” Summerrise said. “The children’s honesty, their laughter, their joy, their ability to see through your soul and capture your heart is something I will never forget.”
She said she will also miss the teachers, staff and the Rev. Mark Kalema, who she said all helped prepare students for higher education through a combination of religion and academics.
“We helped them grow in the faith and we inspired the students to continue their faith after they leave us,” Summerrise said. “We encourage them to pursue their dreams and know that anything is possible with God.”
Summerrise said students cherished memories they made at St. Ann and often returned to share their accomplishments with the school. She will remember St. Ann for the bond created among people of different races, religious affiliations and cultures.
“St. Ann prides ourselves on our family values,” Summerrise said. “When you are accepted at St. Ann, you become a part of a family. We respect and embrace each other’s differences.”
Marie Hess has worked there for nearly three decades, teaching third and fourth grade as well as physical education and art recently. But her first experience came after she moved to Lansing and had her first child in 1988. Three of her children ultimately went through St. Ann.
“I was raised Catholic, and I was looking for a new parish/school for my new family to start,” Hess recalled. “Once I visited St. Ann, I knew this would be my new parish and soon-to-be school for my growing family. Little did I know my career would begin here as well.”
Hess said when her oldest child was just a baby, she was a stay-at-home mom but had a nephew and niece at the school. She decided to start substituting there and eventually was hired as a kindergarten aide.
“Twenty-eight years later, I’m still here,” Hess said. “Over the years, I have worked and learned from the best teachers around.”
Hess said she has had a range of emotions since learning of the school’s closure.
“When the students found out the next day, they had brought in counselors,” Hess said. “And when the children started speaking up about ‘they are sad,’ ‘this is my family,’ ‘I don’t want the school to close,’ etc., I had to walk out because it broke my heart. I didn’t want to have the children see me cry. I wanted them to know it was going to be OK, and when one door closes another opens.”
Hess said, for her, St. Ann School is defined as a place where staff truly cared about nurturing children so that they could grow both in academics and their faith. She called it a place of “diversity and love.”
“We are a family where not only the teachers and staff look out for the children, but the students do, as well,” Hess said. “The older students know all of the younger students and look out for them when needed.”
Hess said the experience there will stay with her family for the rest of her life.
“I truly loved each and every child, and I loved the way every student knew each other and helped each other out,” she said.
Farewell event are planned, with an open house from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the school, 3014 Ridge Road. At 4 p.m., a Mass will be held inside the church, with a parking lot party to follow at 5 p.m. To RSVP for the open house, go to bit.ly/sasfarewelltour.
Declining enrollments
The Chicago Archdiocese said in a January news release it would help families make the transition to nearby Catholic schools, as well as try to place staff in open positions across its system. The archdiocese called the decisions difficult but said they were based on “low and steadily declining enrollment levels and large financial deficits.”
Christ Our Savior School in South Holland has seen a 24% decline in enrollment over the past four years and was facing a $300,000 deficit this year, according to the archdiocese. St. Ann School saw a 33% enrollment decline over the same time period, with a deficit of $270,000 this school year. And St. Joseph School saw the same 33% decline, with a financial deficit of $345,000.
Representatives for Christ Our Savior School declined to comment for this story. A post by the school’s Facebook page states a meet and greet for all former students and staff is planned from 5-8 p.m. June 11 on the west parking lot lawn of the school, 900 E 154th St, South Holland.
The school was known as St. Jude, but changed its name in 2019 when St. Jude the Apostle Parish combined with Holy Ghost in South Holland and St. Mary Queen of Apostles in Riverdale to form Christ Our Savior Parish.
St. Benedict School in Blue Island and St. Walter School on Western Avenue also are to unify as one school but continue classes over two operational campuses, with the upper grade levels using the St. Benedict space and lower grades at St. Walter, with the campuses roughly 1 mile apart from each other. The changes are all part of the archdiocese’s Renew My Church initiative.
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
