Our Lady of Victories – Closing?

It was reported last week that Our Lady of Victories Catholic School on Ege Avenue, Jersey City will close on June 2009, making this school year its last.

Currently, the school has 176 students enrolled. Way below the required 225 by the Archdiocese of Newark to be considered “healthy”.

Many parents have expressed disappointment because of the short notice. The Archdiocese of Newark seems to be notorious for this, as they also did the same thing to the defunct St. Aedan School in McGinley Square area a few years ago. Expect fundraisers in the next couple of weeks to keep the school open.

Why am I posting this? Because a big number of students at OLV are Filipinos.

Full news inside this post…

OLV School to close in June
Friday, February 13, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Due to dropping enrollment, Our Lady of Victories Catholic school in Jersey City will close on June 30, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers announced last night.

“It is an untenable situation,” Myers told more than 150 parents at the school. “Our Lady of Victories Parish does not have the financial resources to subsidize the school.”

Enrollment at the school has dropped from 365 students in 1999 to 176 today, Myers said. As a result, the school is losing $783 per student every year, he said. To stay open, the school would need a total of 225 students, he said.

“If we would continue with this number it would bankrupt the parish,” said the Rev. Victor E. Paloma, the church’s priest.

Plans call for the students of the K-8 school, located at 240 Ege Ave., to enroll at two schools, St. Aloysius, at 721 West Side Ave., and Our Lady of Mercy, at 254 Bartholdi Ave.

The decision to close the school was made by a committee of clergy, staff and parishioners from the three affected parishes – but no parents, Myers said.

Parents last night said they were upset they hadn’t been informed of the problem until the decision to close was already made.

“If you had brought it to the parents in time to get their opinion, maybe we could have done something,” said Bertha Ridley, to great applause. Her granddaughter is a fifth-grader at the school.

One parent suggested forming a fundraising committee to try to keep the school open. Myers said they could appeal the committee’s decision.

Jacueline Brevil, who has sent her three daughters to the school – one is in sixth grade and two have graduated – said she was “devastated” by the news.

“My daughter is still crying,” she said. “It’s a good school. All of us are like family here.”

News of the closing comes on the heels of other Catholic school closings in Hudson County in recent years.

Holy Cross School in Harrison and St. Stephen School in Kearny will merge into one school and take a new name at the end of this year.