Schools slated to close work to keep students in Catholic education

Published: 2005-06-23

CHICAGO (CNS) -- When Ellen and Kent Taylor of Chicago learned in February that the Catholic school their three children attended would close in June, Ellen Taylor started looking. By the time their old school, Resurrection Catholic Academy, closed its doors, the family had settled on St. Bartholomew School for next year. The Taylor children are among more than 3,000 attending the 18 elementary schools that closed in the Archdiocese of Chicago. When archdiocesan Catholic school officials announced Feb. 24 that 23 schools would close this year, they also took unprecedented steps to keep those students in Catholic education, providing them with lists of schools within three miles of their old schools, maps and even a DVD featuring the cardinal, school officials and families encouraging them to choose another Catholic school. Some won't have to. With new fund-raising and recruitment efforts, staff and parents at five schools persuaded archdiocesan officials to allow them to remain open. For the Taylors, staying in the Catholic system was a given, Ellen Taylor said. "I've found the Catholic schools to have a caring, nurturing environment," she said. "And we want our children to be nurtured in the faith."

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