Press Releases
A Guardian Angel for City’s Last Catholic School
Salem News, August 15, 2006
SALEM - The Rev. John Sheridan put a lot of miles on his car this year visiting Catholic churches in and out of Salem to talk about “the miracle on Federal Street.”
That’s what he calls St. Joseph School, the last surviving Catholic school in the city. The K-8 grammar school struggled after its parish closed two years ago and lost students when it was forced to move across the city to the former St. James School.
Today, it appears to be making a comeback - a comeback that got an unexpected and accidental boost from one of Sheridan’s drives out of town.
On Super Bowl weekend, the Salem pastor went to Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Marblehead to talk about his little brick schoolhouse. Although Sheridan had no idea at the time, he was told later that Carolyn Lynch was in the congregation that morning. She is a parishioner at the Marblehead church and president of the Lynch Foundation, a major Catholic charity she started with her husband, millionaire investor Peter Lynch.
A few days after his visit, Sheridan received word that the Lynch Foundation wanted to help St. Joseph’s. He was elated. The whole school community was elated.
“The atmosphere was electric,” said Sheridan, the pastor of St. James Church. “It was a confirmation of the extraordinary work being done here by so many people.”
“I don’t know what he said,” said Mona Nadeau, the school’s development director, “but whatever it was it struck a chord with her.”
The Lynch Foundation has made a three-year commitment to St. Joseph’s. It will provide financial aid for operations and scholarships for new students. The grants, potentially worth about $250,000, are tied to benchmarks the school must attain, most linked to recruiting more students.
Dwindling Enrollment
In its heyday a half-century ago, St. Joseph had more than 600 students. Five years ago, that number had fallen to 225. Today, enrollment is 148. The Lynch Foundation and others are convinced it can be turned around.
“We chose St. Joseph’s because it is the last Catholic school of 10 that were located in Salem,” said Katie Everett, executive director of the Lynch Foundation. “…The Lynch Foundation thinks it is an important school to keep open.”
One of the board members of the Lynch Foundation, banker Fred Bush of Swampscott, is working directly with the school. The charity also has put the school in contact with a public relations specialist who is a close friend of Peter and Carolyn Lynch. St. Joseph is thrilled by all the help, but most of all by the additional scholarships it can offer. Tuition is $3,300, which is out of reach of many families. Currently, about a quarter of the students receive aid.
“I expect it very much to grow,” Sheridan said of the scholarships. “I expect it to explode, to be honest.”
The aid from the Lynch Foundation is the second piece of good news St. Joseph School received this year. The first came in the fall when ci consultant hired by the Archdiocese of Boston visited St. Joseph and gave it a “mission critical” status, meaning it is a school that should be saved. That and follow-up letters from the archdiocese offering encouragement and help have buoyed spirits at the school. In the fall, Cardinal Sean O’Malley is scheduled to visit.
After years of inconsistent financial support, St. Joseph is now getting donations from every parish in the city and from others in Marblehead, Swampscott, Hamilton and even Melrose. That also has been a big boost.
Even with the outside help, most of the responsibility for preserving St. Joseph’s falls on the school itself. They must recruit more students, strengthen bonds with area Catholic high schools, increase fundraising and broaden their base of support by reaching out to the community.
“It’s a whale of a challenge,” Sheridan said. “But I think (the archdiocese and the Lynch Foundation) saw a desire within all of us to give it a go, to give it everything we’ve got.”
Closed Salem Catholic Schools
- St. James High School - 1971
- St. Chretienne Academy - 1971
- St. Chretienne Grammar School - 1971
- St. Mary’s School (at Immaculate Conception) - 1971
- St. James Grammar School- 1972
- St. Thomas the Apostle School* - 1973
- St. Anne School - 1976
- St. John the Baptist School- 1977
- St. Joseph High School - 1980
* St. Thomas School was located near the Peabody/Salem line and served Salem students.
Original article
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