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Saint Mary High School (Westfield, Massachusetts)

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St. Mary's High School
Saint Mary's High School
Address
Map
27 Bartlett Street

Westfield, Massachusetts
Information
TypePrivate, coeducational
MottoPulchra Est
(She Is Beautiful)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1899
SuperintendentDaniel Baillargeon
PrincipalMatthew Collins
ChaplainFrank Ferman
Teaching staff16
Grades9–12
Enrollment68 (2018)
Color(s)Green and gold   
Athletics conferencePioneer Valley
SportsCross country, soccer, golf, skiing, hockey, basketball, tennis, baseball, lacrosse
Team nameSaints
AccreditationNew England Association of Schools and Colleges[1]
NewspaperThe Saints' Herald
Tuition$8,350
Feeder schoolsSaint Mary's Elementary School
Websitehttp://stmsaints.org

Saint Mary High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Westfield, Massachusetts. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts, which assumed the financial management of the formerly-parochial school and its programming in August 2019.[2]

St. Mary's offers electives in Art, Music, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, and English. St. Mary's curriculum offers honors and advanced placement level courses in Math, Science, World Language, and English.  Through its virtual high school program offered through Catholic Virtual, St. Mary's offers an additional 200 courses.[3]

History

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Founding

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Saint Mary High School was established in 1899[4][5]

2018 closure attempt

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In March 2018, following a 43% enrollment drop over the course of 19 years from 1999 to 2018, Father Frank Lawlor announced that the parish high school would close at the conclusion of the 2017–18 school year. The decision to close the school was met with an abundance of emotions in a March 12 meeting to discuss the matter. Lawlor said that the decision to close the school was not monetary, and merely an issue of declining student enrollment. Troy Collins, baseball coach of thirteen years for the High School and St. Mary's alumni, asserted that he was told the decision was because of monetary issues.[6]

In the hours following the meeting, parents, alums, and community members began to organize a grassroots attempt at saving the school. Bob Wilcox, Class of 1988, was a key figure in the organization's efforts: Creating a Facebook group titled "Save Saint Mary's High School" which would eventually grow to over 250 members. [7] This group organized a successful meeting of 200 members less than 24 hours after the first meeting and created plans to hold a prayer vigil for the school alongside a lawn sign campaign. School board Richard Labrie also announced that he was granted a private audience with the Bishop, in which he hoped to voice his support for Saint Mary's High School.[8]

Following the widespread calls for Saint Mary's to stay open, the bishop agreed to give the school another year, with the stipulation that they enroll Freshman classes of more than 20 students. In the 2018–19 school year, however, St. Mary's failed to enroll 20 freshmen, only enrolling 13. Despite this; the bishop allowed the school to remain open.

In January 2019, following a renewed drive behind Saint Mary's High School due in part to new administrators such as principal Matthew Collins and superintendent Daniel Baillargeon, the bishop announced that the school would remain open for the foreseeable future.[9]

Diocesan takeover

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In the leadup to the 2019–2020 school year, St. Mary's High School transitioned from a parochial (run by the local parish) to a diocesan (run by the Larger Catholic Diocese of Springfield) school.[10]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ NEASC-CIS. "NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools". Archived from the original on 24 June 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  2. ^ Kinney, Jim (August 19, 2019). "Springfield Diocese takes over St. Mary's High School in Westfield". The Republican. Springfield, Mass.
  3. ^ "About Us – St. Mary's Parish School". Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  4. ^ "Saint Mary School History". SMHS. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007. and in 2014 enrolled about 130 students.
  5. ^ "St. Mary's Parish School - High School Campus". Commission on Independent Schools. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  6. ^ Porter, Amy. "St. Mary's High School to close after more than 100 years". The Westfield News. The Westfield News. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ^ Tremblay, Hope E. (13 March 2018). "Parents, alums organize to save St. Mary's High School in Westfield". masslive. MassLive. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ Tremblay, Hope E. (14 March 2018). "Supporters of St. Mary's High in Westfield organize, raise $50K, ahead of vigil to save the school from closing". masslive.
  9. ^ Tremblay, Hope E. (23 January 2019). "St. Mary's High School in Westfield will stay open". masslive.
  10. ^ "St. Mary's looking to adapt on diocese control". masslive. 21 August 2019.
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