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Holy Cross Parents Distraught Over Sacred Heart Merger

By DNAinfo Staff on January 24, 2011 6:19pm  | Updated on January 25, 2011 7:00am

By Tara Kyle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HELL'S KITCHEN — The Catholic school merger that brought salvation to one pre-K through eighth grade institution is sparking panic at another parochial school nine blocks to the south.

Parents at the Holy Cross School, located at 332 W. 43rd St., said Monday that they were devastated by the Archdiocese of New York's new plan to combine their school with the Sacred Heart of Jesus School, located at 456 W. 52nd St.

While the merger, announced Thursday, brought relief to Sacred Heart parents who had experienced months of anxiety after their school was designated "at risk" due to low enrollment, Holy Cross parents said they felt blindsided.

One mother, Eva Leclercq, 38, said she cried after hearing the news. Another, Aisha Rogers, 33, said she "nearly passed out."

The Holy Cross School's campus on W. 43rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues is slated to shutter next fall.
The Holy Cross School's campus on W. 43rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues is slated to shutter next fall.
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DNAinfo/Tara Kyle

Under the new plan, the approximately 200 students who attend each school will all start fall classes in Sacred Heart's facilities, which have a capacity of 450.

Sacred Heart's principal, Noelle Beale, will stay on to govern the merged school, according to Fran Davies, the Archdiocese' associate superintendent for communications and marketing.

And while Sacred Heart parents are thrilled that Beale will stay on, Holy Cross parents said they are heatbroken to be losing their principal.

Lorena Camacho, a 39-year-old Hell's Kitchen resident with two children at Holy Cross, and Leclercq both described picking the school in part because, years before either had school-aged children, they saw Holy Cross Principal, Sister Mary Theresa Dixon at the steps each morning, greeting every child individually before classes.

"Holy Cross is any parent's dream for their children…it's a small town school in a big city," said Leclercq, an Inwood mother of four who isn't sure where she'll send her students next year. "To lose that is to lose a part of their family identity."

As a result, Holy Cross parents want to fight the decision. They've sent a letter to Archbishop Timothy Dolan, passed out fliers on Sunday at the Holy Cross parish chruch, set up a Facebook page.

They plan to reach out to Community Board 4 and possibly Christine Quinn's office, armed in part with the argument that amid all the high-rise construction in Hell's Kitchen, the neighborhood will need the extra school seats soon enough.

But at the Archdiocese, Davies wrote in an e-mail Monday that the decision is final, and followed long discussions with leaders at both schools. Right now, the Archdiocese is focused on forming a joint Parent Advisory Committee to ease the transition for mothers and fathers at both schools.

The number of teachers laid-off at Holy Cross and Sacred Heart will be determined before April and is contingent on enrollment numbers at the newly merged school, according to Davies.

While enrollment at the new school is expected to be around 400, several Holy Cross mothers said Monday that they and many others are considering sending their sons and daughters elsewhere.

"We understand the merger was unexpected, but felt it was the best option because it allowed the student bodies of both schools to remain intact," Davies wrote in e-mail Monday. "The merger will provide new opportunities for academic and program enhancements beyond what is currently offered to students."