Catholic school officials in the New Orleans Archdiocese have announced this month that four of its schools will be closing later this year.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the latest announced closure is Sacred Heart of Jesus School in the Norco area of St. Charles Parish.
The archdiocese says student enrollment at Sacred Heart has dropped to a point where it is not sustainable, falling from 136 students in the 2013-2014 academic year to 80 this year. The co-ed Catholic elementary school was founded in 1959 and teaches pre-kindergarten through 7th grade.
Tuition at the school was nearly $5,000 a year, according to information from EdNavigator’s Catholic Schools guide.
Schools Superintendent RaeNell Houston says the staff of the Office of Catholic Schools will work with the families of students from Sacred Heart to make the transition to a new school “as smooth as possible.”
Last week, the 80-school archdiocese said it would close Our Lady of Divine Providence School in Metairie as well as the Holy Rosary School in Uptown New Orleans because of low enrollment. Those closures would enable the archdiocese to form the new St. Thérèse Academy for Exceptional Learners school this fall at Divine Providence’s campus.
On Jan. 9, the archdiocese said it is closing St. Peter Claver in Tremé because of declining enrollment and finances.
The closure of Sacred Heart in Norco means leaves three remaining diocese schools in St. Charles Parish: St. Charles Borromeo in Destrehan, St. Joan of Arc School in LaPlace, and Ascension of Our Lord in LaPlace.
