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Hell's Kitchen Parochial School Saved — For a Year

By DNAinfo Staff on April 8, 2011 2:39pm  | Updated on April 10, 2011 8:30am

By Tara Kyle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HELL'S KITCHEN — Parents at a threatened parochial school got the news this week they'd been praying for.

The Holy Cross School, a K-8 institution at 332 West 43rd Street, won't be merged with with the Sacred Heart of Jesus School on West 52nd Street — at least for a year.

Parents had equated the merger with closure, because the school would lose its building, principal and many teachers.

But students went home Thursday with letters from the Archdiocese of New York in their backpacks, announcing that both schools would remain open and independent through the 2011-2012 school year.

"We're just overjoyed," said parent Eva Leclercq, who helped spearhead a campaign that employed both social media and old school, grassroots community activism. "It's a hard earned miracle."

When the Archdiocese announced the proposed merger in January, Holy Cross parents expressed shock because, unlike Sacred Heart of Jesus, their school had not been on a list of 32 at risk schools the Archdiocese circulated in November.

At the time, the Archdiocese described its decision as final.

Parents immediately launched a Facebook page and YouTube campaign. In February, roughly 200 family members attended a meeting with Community Board 4's Quality of Life committee.

And in March, some parents made their case to Archdiocese Superintendent Timothy McNiff, presenting a plan to create an in-house marketing and fundraising campaign.

While the future remains uncertain — a parents committee will present a plan for long term financial solvency in November — for now, kids and parents are rejoicing.

For parent Aisha Rogers, whose daughter Angelique is in kindergarten, the news came just in time. Before hearing of Holy Cross' reprieve, she was preparing to send non-refundable fees and deposits to other parochial schools.

"I'm very relieved," Rogers said. "My daughter said they sang and jumped up and down."