BELLEVILLE — Two grade schools in the Diocese of Belleville will close at the end of May after years of declining enrollment — Notre Dame Academy in Belleville and St. Ann in Nashville.
Notre Dame Academy has had “well below 100 students” in preschool through eighth grades since 2017, according to a social media post announcing the closure.
Notre Dame and its predecessor schools have been open for more than 175 years. The school was named in 2015 after a merger with Cathedral Grade School, itself a merger of St. Mary’s and St. Augustine schools. Cathedral Grade School once had more than 1,000 students.
The closure announcement lists several factors for the school’s decline:
- Difficulty hiring teachers for lower pay than public schools.
- Declining population in the city of Belleville.
- Expensive upkeep for aging buildings.
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Another factor cited by church leaders is the expiration of the Invest in Kids Act, Illinois’ tax-credit program for private school vouchers.
After the closure of the two schools, the Diocese of Belleville will have 23 grade schools and three high schools. St. Ann Catholic School will continue to operate its preschool, church leaders said.
The 30 smallest schools in the Archdiocese of St. Louis must present their long-term feasibility plans next month in the second phase of the “All Things New” parish and school downsizing plan. None of the pastors recommended shutting down their schools, but mergers or closures are still possible after Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and his staff review the plans.
There are about 19,000 students, down from 40,000 in 2000, in the 82 grade schools across the archdiocese, which covers St. Louis and 10 counties in eastern Missouri. The schools have an average operating deficit of $600,000.
Three archdiocesan grade schools closed last year: St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in Florissant, St. Mark in south St. Louis County and Good Shepherd in Hillsboro.