This past week the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced the two closings of Archdiocesan high schools, Rosati-Kain and St. Mary’s High School. Even though many knew that these two schools had dwindling numbers, the reality has set in all over the whole St. Louis area. 

On Wednesday, September 28, members of the St. Louis Archdiocese announced in a press conference that at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, Rosati-Kain and St. Mary’s High School would close..

During their press conference, Archbishop of St. Louis Mitchell Rozanski, looked at many factors such as enrollment and income. This is how he decided that the time to shut down these two schools had come. 

Rosati-Kain and St. Mary’s have been facing some of these problems for many years. St. Mary’s has seen their current enrollment dip to only 222 boys and Rosati-Kain down to just 188 girls. The current numbers make them the smallest single-sex high schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese.

This has not come without a pushback from both schools. Rosati-Kain held a rally this past weekend in protest against their closing and leaders of St. Mary’s are attempting to become independently run from the Archdiocese. Even though both are pushing back, nothing is likely to change as a result of this. 

“We found out over social media so we were all pretty skeptical. Once they made the announcement we were all stunned, but we knew it was a possibility but we never thought it would happen this soon. A lot of students cried, because it was really a home to everyone,” Rosati-Kain Junior Olivia Goodman said. 

It will prove to be challenging for hundreds of students as they look to locate new schools to attend, but it brings up the larger issue that the St. Louis Archdiocese is facing: population. 

Across the board one of the biggest reasons for the All Things New campaign is that the Archdiocese is trying to keep as many schools and churches open as possible. However, some other schools and parishes may be closed for the same reasons as Rosati-Kain and St. Mary’s.

This is no doubt an incredibly difficult time for many members of those communities that have felt the impact. However, the Archdiocese has promised to help support every single family that is in need of aid as they look for new schools.