Archdiocese Hopes to Retain Assumption Students if School Closes

Officials from the Archdiocese of New York believe that they will be able to transfer all of the students enrolled at Our Lady of the Assumption Elementary School in Peekskill if a decision is made to close the school next year.

The last time the Archdiocese of New York decided to reconfigure its schools in 2010-2011, it managed to relocate 64 percent of its student to another school.

If that number holds true this time around, that means about 130 of the 200 students currently enrolled at Our Lady of the Assumption can be expected to continue their Catholic school education elsewhere if a decision is made to close the school in January.

“Every student is precious to us,” said Fran Davies, associate superintendent for communications and marketing at the Archdiocese. “Our goal is to retain as many students as possible and we’d like to be able to retain as many students as possible. We’re really are going to approach this on family by family basis. We’re going to try and to find the fit that’s best for them.”

Assumption is one of 26 out of 129 Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of New York that are listed as being at  risk of closing in June 2013.

The list was compiled after a study conducted by Local Regional Boards and Reconfiguration Committees in every county in the archdiocese began their careful analysis of each of its schools this fall.

Enrollment, financial, academic and local demographics were factored into the study. Davies declined to give the data used to determine the Assumption school’s status.

The school has an enrollment of 200 students this year, according to the latest figures provided the Archdiocese.  About 53 percent of the student body is Hispanic, 9 percent white, 7 percent Asian and 4 percent black, according to information recorded by the National Center on Education Statistics in 2009-2010.

“It was a complex process,” Davies said. “We looked at all of these different aspects and offered the schools the opportunity to present other data they fell may have been overlooked.”

A final decision on whether or not to close Assumption School will be made in January.