Archdiocese Closes Several Catholic High Schools in Philadelphia

Three Catholic school closings in the same week in one city made trending news on Google today. Although the closing were for different reasons, it became popular news very quickly.

Many Catholic schools across the country are seeing a decline in enrollment. The closing of the Cardinal Dougherty High School and Northeast Catholic High School for Boys in Philadelphia is not a complete surprise to many who are involved in the Catholic school system. The worsening economy has left many families with less money to spare for tuition.

Students at the two Philadelphia schools that are closing permanently will go to other schools run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia after the current school year. Dougherty's enrollment dropped more than 43 percent over the past decade and
Northeast's enrollment has dropped more than 29 percent in the past 10 years.

"The challenges we are experiencing here in Philadelphia are mirrored by dioceses all over the country," said Richard McCarron, the archdiocese's secretary for Catholic education. "We are faced with rising costs to maintain the overhead of large, older schools that simply are not operating close to their capacities."

Fortunately for students at the Archbishop Carroll High School in Philadelphia, their school closure is only a temporary one. Thirty-eight percent of students at this Catholic school were absent with flu-like symptoms this week with the swine flue confirmed in one student and suspected in two others.