The site of the former Most Precious Blood Catholic School, which closed its doors in June after 58 years of serving the Astoria community, will now be used as a pre-K center, according to the Department of Education.
Students and parents at the school located at 35-32 37th St. found out in January that the school would be closing at the end of the school year due to drops in enrollment and the need for costly structural repairs. Even though parents and students rallied to keep the school open, the institution shut down.
However, according to the DOE, which has since leased the building, the site will still be used for educational purposes and there are no plans to change the use of the building.
9 comments:
St. Mary's school near Times Square, similarly closed. It's been replaced by the De La Salle School.
A lot of Catholic schools are closing.
Could the expensive pedophilia lawsuit settlements stripped the church of a lot of money?
and has the DOE done the "costly structural repairs" needed? I wouldn't be sending my 4 year old to a school with known structural issues. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
The Church got out of the hospitals and now is doing the same with schools. They are putting all their eggs in the illegal immigrant basket the same as the political parties.
"Precious Blood"? Over the entrance to a public school? Should be interesting to see how that plays out.
George the Atheist, religious institutions hosting NYC's pre-k (UPK) is nothing new. My daughter went to UPK at a Catholic school and most of the students in the class were not Catholic. The UPK teachers have to stick with the public curriculum, and there is no religious education at all.
Back in the early eighties my neighbor sought to enroll her daughter in St. Andrew Avellino's pre school.
When she Hearst that it would cost her $1,200 a semester, she went to Kissena Park where her little girl attended an NYC pre school program...and it was. great...so she told me.
Could the expensive pedophilia lawsuit settlements stripped the church of a lot of money?
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Gentrification.
Catholic schools were packed when the neighborhoods were full of Irish and Italian families. There is no need for a catholic school when the area all turns over to lofts for the Caleb's and Megan's who are in NYC on a staycation for a few years, and leave only when its family time.
I have a friend who taught in a CS in Brooklyn, and each year the demographics shifted, the enrollment got smaller.
Absolutely gentrification. The bulk of the young Catholics these days, especially in MPB's neighborhood, are Latinos that can't afford a Catholic education. I used to live in MPB parish, but went to public school, even though I'm of the Irish/Italian demo of the olden days. We just went to CCD, and now I'm no longer a practicing Catholic. I still live in Queens, but I wouldn't dream of sending my child to catholic school - their education stinks. My husband went to Catholic school and he knows I got a much better education than he did. We are solidly middle class, and even if I did want to send my kid to Catholic school, the cost is astronomical, then there's a constant barrage of "fund raising" that goes on. No, thanks. We live in a good district and are zoned for the best school in the district, and it's one of the highest rated schools in NYC. Our local Catholic school can keep their $7000/year plus another $3000 in expected fund-raising contributions per year education. That's why their enrollment is down.
I went to that school, i was in 5th grade and now it feels like CRAP being in a new school. I have been there since nursery
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