By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HELL'S KITCHEN — Hail Marys alone may not save one West side Catholic school, but some parents, alums and former teachers are sending prayers out through a higher power — Facebook.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus School, a preschool to Eighth grade institution located at 456 West 52nd St., was one of 32 schools identified in November by the Archdiocese of New York as in danger of losing the financial subsidies necessary to survive.
Although the fate of every other school on the list was announced on Monday (Good Shepherd in Inwood will stay open, 27 others will close), Sacred Heart's status is still in limbo. The Archdiocese is in the process of considering the viability of the school's proposal for long-term sustainability.
On Facebook page SAVE SHJS, which 187 people "like," stakeholders are singing the school's praises, organizing parents meetings and posting a series of Flip camera video testimonials on YouTube.
"Our school is the best school…we need a flag, like waving it, waving it, boom, boom, don't close our school down," one student, Ella, said in a video before telling the camera person to "cut."
One mother who helped organize the Facebook page and YouTube campaign, Deb Curtis-Green, is an Englishwoman and non-Catholic who enrolled her three-year-old son Joe this fall as a tribute to her New York Irish husband, who died of cancer in May 2009.
"I wanted to make sure I put him in a good Catholic school like his father would have wanted," Curtis-Green said over the phone before praising the school's morals, academic record and devoted principal.
The school has no formal PTA, Curtis-Green said, and parents thought that a Facebook page would be the best way to communicate. She hoped the video sharing site YouTube could help popularize the school's cause, and included a 30-second clip of her son in the campaign.
"If YouTube can make an American idol out of a chicken catcher...," she said. "We kind of thought, it's the medium of the moment."
On the Facebook wall, former teacher Jim Link wrote in a post that after his death, Sacred Heart, which was founded in 1896 and serves about 210 students, would receive at least 20 percent of his estate.
"The best thing we can all do is to support Sacred Heart financially and help increase enrolment," Link wrote.
Former student Talita Teixeira wrote in December that she would always remember the way the school community supported her family after their apartment caught fire.
"I am in total shock," she wrote in all capital letters. "It brings tears to my eyes knowing that a future generation may not have a chance to learn half the things I did while I attended this place I used to call home."
The reason that Sacred Heart was still awaiting a decision was because the school's sustainability proposal arrived late in the process, according to Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese.
It's still uncertain when Sacred Heart will learn whether its doors would stay open next year, Zwilling said, but the Archdiocese was mindful that families needed to begin planning for the next school year.
"We know that parents and students will be anxious for a response," Zwilling wrote in an e-mail. "But we want to be sure we have all the information we can before a decision is reached."
So for now, all that's left for friends and family of the school is to pray — and post.
"Thanks to all the fans of Save SHJS!," wrote Lissette Acosta on Tuesday. "Thanks for the support, the comments, the ideas etc. Simply for caring! Thanks and May God Bless you always!"
