St. Alphonsus school to remain open next fall, archdiocese says
St. Alphonsus Liguori School in Prospect Heights will remain open for the 2016-17 school after raising enough money and enrolling enough students, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Thursday.
Due to falling enrollment, the school was required to raise $400,000 in donations and register at least 135 students for the 2016-17 school year by Monday of this week to avoid being closed in June. It succeeded, the Catholic schools office said.
"The Archdiocese commends the parish leadership, parishioners, school community and other supporters for their wonderful and passionate efforts to keep the school open," a statement said. "The Archdiocese values the work that has gone into raising the money and securing the enrollment that they have and looks forward to working with the parish and school to continue to grow student enrollment."
The school's administrative assistant, Linda Bromer, tweeted Sunday that the Rev. Curt Lambert, the parish's pastor, said during Mass St. Alphonsus had reached its registration goal of 135 students for the next school year but remained $28,000 short of the $400,000 fundraising goal. School Principal Linda Chorazy would not confirm any numbers Monday other than that they were changing hourly. "We're coming very close to our goal," Chorazy said at the time.
The school previously overcame a similar enrollment crisis in the early '90s and an aggressive marketing campaign on the school's virtues can return enrollment to a healthy level, Lambert said in early January.