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Hell's Kitchen Catholic School Saved From Closing

By DNAinfo Staff on January 21, 2011 3:39pm  | Updated on January 22, 2011 10:13am

By Tara Kyle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Hell's Kitchen's endangered Sacred Heart of Jesus School, which parents, alums and former teachers rallied on Facebook to save, has lived to see another year.

Starting next fall, the school, which serves preschoolers to eighth graders on 456 West 52nd St., will merge with the nearby Holy Cross School at 332 West 43rd St., the Archdiocese of New York said.

Students from both schools will attend classes in the current home of Sacred Heart of Jesus, which has a capacity for more than 425. Right now, only approximately 200 students attend both schools.

The news comes after months of anxiety for the Sacred Heart of Jesus community following the Archdiocese's November announcement of its inclusion on a list of 32 schools at risk of losing the financial subsidies necessary to survive.

Last week, the Archdiocese announced that 27 of those schools would close, and just four would remain open. Only Sacred Heart of Jesus had its fate still in doubt, leaving the school's friends and family to vent their hopes and fears on the Save SHJS Facebook page.

And while the period of transition is only beginning — the Archdiocese will create a joint Parent Advisory Committee for students at both schools — the mood on Facebook Friday was jubilant.

"The stress is over!" wrote Facebook group member Kelly Franqui-Colon.

"We will stay open!!!," wrote Ivelisse Kennedy. "God is good! All the time! God is good!"

A first grader's pictorial plea for salvation at Sacred Heart — now achieved through a merger with neighboring Holy Cross.
A first grader's pictorial plea for salvation at Sacred Heart — now achieved through a merger with neighboring Holy Cross.
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