DERBY – When parents from St. Mary-St. Michael School learned that the Archdiocese of Hartford planned to close their school last February, they went into action.
After forming a five-member parent task force, they moved quickly to develop a two-pronged financial advancement plan focused on enrollment and development. The Archdiocese accepted it in April and it was put in place July 1. Now, they’re putting the plan into action.
"We’re very pleased that we’ve been handed a wonderful, unique opportunity to keep our school open," said Gloriann Albini, president of the home-school association, "and we’re going forward."
"The school needs to become self-sufficient," she noted. "The parishes will continue to support the school, but they are not expected to carry the school. It’s realistic and we’re very optimistic.
"It’s all about the kids and keeping the school open for them," she said. "There’s been a Catholic school in Derby for over 125 years, and that is our goal."
Donna Carloni and her husband, who have daughters in the third and fifth grades and are active volunteers, agreed.
"When I heard that the school was closing, I was devastated," she said. "But when we got the word that they were going to keep it open, it was like having a big worry lifted.
"I graduated from St. Mary’s in 1985, and it’s important for both my husband and me to have our daughters go to school here," she said. "In addition to being Catholic and having small classrooms, it has a very strong family feeling. Everyone is looking out for each other’s kids. I never have to worry. I go to work with peace of mind."
The plan calls for an aggressive campaign to market the school, a development campaign to bring in grant money and financial aid, the solicitation of alumni donations, and the implementation of a prekindergarten and before- and after-school activities.
Fund-raising plans call for family dinners and events, expansion of an annual duck race that began last year with a goal of $30,000, and restarting bingo with a goal of raising $40,000.
Organizers also plan to tap alumni who Mrs. Albini said include professional football and basketball players, doctors, lawyers and others.
The school also receives tuition grants from the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal and funding from the Catholic school support program.
However, the biggest revenue source is enrollment. There were 114 enrolled in the school for the 2009-10 academic year, with 20 who graduated. The goal for next year is to have 119 students, with a five-year goal of 140 students.
The parent task force will report regularly to the finance committees at each parish and will continue to be monitored by the Archdiocese.
"I know that these dedicated parents will bring their best efforts to this worthy endeavor, partnering with the parish community to sustain Catholic school education at St. Mary-St. Michael now and well into the future," said Dale R. Hoyt, superintendent of Catholic schools, in a statement when the Archdiocese accepted the plan.
Another change next year is the welcoming of a new principal, Linda T. Coppola, a native of Derby and alumna of St. Mary School with 36 years of educational experience. She replaces Donna Doherty, who retired in June.
"I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard nothing but positive things about her," said parent Amy Cobaugh, who has a daughter in third grade and a son in fifth grade.
"The school is really a great environment for the kids," she continued. "They really care about the children and it’s just a great experience for them.
"I was supposed to go to St. Mary’s," she reflected, "but didn’t because there were rumors about it closing back then … and I’m 42 now. My mom still regrets not sending me and my sister there to school."
As for the new plan, she added, "We have a very determined task force and determined parents; and everyone is looking forward to pulling together to make this work."
The presence of a school at St. Mary Parish goes back as far as 1852, when a school opened in the basement of the church, only to close five years later. But in 1898, parishioners built a school for 350 students. A second building replacing that structure opened in 1954.
St. Michael Parish opened its school on Derby Avenue in 1909. It was staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
St. Mary and St. Michael schools were merged in 1988 with St. Mary’s housing lower elementary students and St. Michael designated for upper elementary students. Last year, the two campuses merged into a single building at St. Mary’s on Seymour Avenue.
St. Mary-St. Michael School, like many Catholic schools built near the turn of the century for largely immigrant populations, is struggling with changes that swept through the country beginning in the 1960s.
Rising tuition costs, fewer practicing Catholics to support parishes, the recession and a lack of endowment funds put parishes and schools in a year-to-year budget cycle that makes it difficult to plan for the long range.
The National Catholic Education Association reported in April that enrollment in Catholic schools across the country dropped by more than 73,000 students last academic year.
Still, pockets of parents, parishes and administrators are pushing back, trying to preserve Catholic education in communities throughout the Archdiocese.
