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Parish Makes Difficult Decision to Close School

Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, a pre-kindergarten through grade 12 school administered by Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Anniston, Alabama, announced Feb. 18 that the school will be closing at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

The school has operated continuously for 69 years since its opening in 1953 and has served Catholic and non-Catholic students across the Anniston-Oxford metropolitan area. Operated for many years as St. Mary’s Catholic School on McCall Drive, the school has been at its current location on Morton Road in Anniston since 2000.

In a letter to teachers, students and their families, Father John McDonald, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, said,

“The closure of the school is a great sadness for the people of our parish and for the larger community.” He added, “However, it is an unfortunate and inevitable result of many economic forces that have reduced our enrollment and eventually would negatively impact our ability to deliver the highest standards of Catholic education, for which Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School has long been recognized.”

Catholic schools were established in the U.S. nearly 240 years ago, having as their first mission the education of the Catholic children in the parish. Over the centuries, that mission expanded to include providing quality education to millions of children outside of the parish, of other faiths, and those living in marginalized and threatened populations not well served by other school communities. In recent years, however, shrinking family sizes, alternative educational models and, rising operational costs have brought lower enrollments and other administrative challenges.

“Seeking new ministries and opportunities for spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ is the call of every parish,” said Father McDonald. “Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Anniston will remain engaged in other educational ministries for its parishioners and for the larger community,” he added.

Father McDonald also noted that closures of institutions often invite communities to explore new and creative ways to respond to the call of Jesus Christ to “baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).