Two more Black-serving Catholic schools closed in New York Archdiocese

Two more Black-serving Catholic schools have closed in the Archdiocese of New York, Saint Mark the Evangelist and Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary, historic Harlem institutions said to be plagued by declining enrollment and tuition woes.

They are the latest casualties of the archdiocese’s decision last summer to reacquire the seven local schools administered by the Partnership For Inner-City Education since 2013. Their contract with the chancery was not renewed and the archdiocese has now closed four of the affected schools.

“Please know that this decision was made with much prayer and discernment, rooted in our desire to nurture and strengthen Catholic education for generations,” said Sr Mary Grace Walsh, an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who serves as superintendent of schools, in a statement on the closure of Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary, which like St Mark's went into effect this month.

“This decision follows the Archdiocese of New York’s School Viability Study, which identified the ongoing challenges of maintaining sustainability in enrollment and financial health,” she added in an open letter for The Good News Room, an archdiocesan media publication.

Founded in 1912 by the heiress-turned-nun St. Katharine Drexel, St. Mark the Evangelist School and its neighboring parish were the first to serve African Americans in Harlem, an Upper Manhattan neighborhood known for its extensive Black history and culture. The closure of the preK-8 school was first announced in February 2024, with the archdiocese citing “demographics” as one of the prominent factors.

As its name suggests, Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary School was the product of a merger, which took place in 1975 between Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (founded in the late 19th century) and Holy Rosary (founded in 1949). The merged institution served a mixed Black and Latino student body, also for grades preK-8, and was informed of closure plans this spring.

The shuttering of the two schools comes amid financial uncertainty across the Archdiocese of New York, which covers the Bronx, Staten Island, Manhattan, and several border counties to the north. Clergy sex abuse settlements have cost the archdiocese more than $75 million in the past decade, with an estimated $859 million more in unsettled claims as of last year. (The state’s supreme court recently upheld the archdiocese’s lawsuit against its insurer, Chubb, for refusing to fund payouts.)

The ensuing austerity measures have included the closure of ethnic ministry offices (among them the Office of Black Ministry), other layoffs, and the closure and sale of the archdiocese’s historic headquarters on First Avenue for $100 million in October. The chancery has closed roughly 40 churches since 2015.

The cuts have also reshaped the local Catholic school landscape, which was already experiencing contraction. Manhattan Institute fellow Ray Domanico wrote earlier this year that Catholic school enrollment in New York State has fallen by a third in the past decade, and the Archdiocese of New York has closed at least 40 schools since 2020—many of them in the inner city. Other schools not operated by the archdiocese have also closed in the same period.

The former Partnership Schools in New York represent unique cases in the ongoing saga, as the archdiocese did not give a reason for its decision in 2024 to take back the seven schools previously run by the independent Catholic nonprofit, which serves financially challenged Catholic schools.

The announcement came just weeks after the arrest of a former Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary teacher, Daniel Haines, on rape charges. The archdiocese noted that it did not exercise direct “operational control” over the school at the time of the alleged crimes.

After it declined to renew its contract with Partnership, the archdiocese was quoted as saying they would continue to collaborate “with all seven schools in the coming years.” With the subsequent closures, beginning in February, that number has been reduced to three less than a year later.

The archdiocese’s related School Viability Study (SVS), which began last fall and concluded in January, has led to a renewal plan that will address the situation of the remaining local Catholic schools. It was summarized in a statement released by Sr Walsh on June 6. 

“All schools, whether strong or in need of additional support, will work with the Archdiocese to implement these renewal efforts,” she said. 

“The renewal process is not always easy, but it brings with it the promise of transformation and growth.”

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

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