ATLANTA—Blessed Trinity and Our Lady of Mercy High Schools will open their doors in the fall of 2000 with only a ninth-grade class.

Catholic Education of North Georgia Inc. announced the decision in a letter to tenth-grade applicants March 3.

By the application deadline of Feb. 1, Catholic Education of North Georgia Inc. had received only 21 applications for the tenth-grade class at Our Lady of Mercy High School, Fairburn, and just 50 applications for the tenth-grade class at Blessed Trinity High School, Roswell.

“At this point the enrollment for the freshman class is solid, and we will open the coming academic year with that class in place,” said Dr. Sandra Smith, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, in a March 3 letter informing prospective students and parents of her office’s decision. “The sophomore class (size)... has fallen below our expectations, and we will not be able to offer a sophomore class for the coming year.”

In a letter to parents who communicated their individual disappointment about the school not offering a tenth-grade class, Smith said that the financial losses for a school with so few students would be prohibitive.

“In the final analysis, the only way that we could offer a program would have been either for the school to bear a very large deficit in its first year of operation or to double the tuition for sophomores to cover the cost,” Smith said in her March 13 letter to parents. “Both options would be unacceptable.”

Catholic Education of North Georgia Inc. has forwarded the list of applicants for the tenth-grade high schools to Donald T. Sasso, principal of St. Pius X High School, Atlanta.

“Applications (to St. Pius) will be accepted for consideration without penalty of lateness because the deadline has passed,” Smith said.