Closing Catholic Schools Have Rich History

Wed, Nov 28th 2012, 10:22 AM

At the end of the academic school year in 2013 two catholic primary schools in the capital will close their doors for the last time. It's a sad reality for more than 200 students and parents who have contributed to the rich history of St. Bede's Primary Catholic School and Our Lady's Catholic Primary School. Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder said the closure of the schools came after years of declining enrollment and a building deficit. "We tried our best to keep the schools open as long as we could, hoping that the enrolment situation would reverse itself," said Pinder last week. "

That, as the years went by, was not the case and it came to a point where we really had to make a decision." St. Bede's can be traced back to 1946, when Rev. Bonaventure Hansen founded the school as a kindergarten class on Sutton Street in the Kemp Road community. From then enrollment climbed and the school was expanded to the fourth grade by 1955. According to the school's website the school year 1957 to 1958 was described as the "era of construction". At that time the school merely consisted of a wooden building with a porch, but it eventually grew into more.

"In 1964 the first building which was used as a kindergarten was demolished, and grades five and six were taught in the church," the school's website reads. "In 1965 these grades were taught in a nearby building, and grade four and the office were placed in another building. In 1969 a new classroom building and a new rectory were built. The last classroom building was erected in 1970."

Kathleen Wallace, who was a secretary in the school for 20 years, said its a big loss for the community. "It's a family community and the children who were there, they are now sending their children to the school," she said. "...They pass on from generation to generation." Wallace was transferred to Aquinas College three years ago. She said when she heard St. Bede's would no longer be open she was shocked. "I felt sad because it's a family oriented school," she said. "It's a small school but the children are talented - from sports to grammar, to the arts."

The school has made headlines before with its strong showing in the primary division basketball tournaments and student of the year awards. Wallace added that she wore many hats at St. Bede's. "Whatever the school was doing everybody needed to pitch in to help out," she recalled. "You were required to wear many different hats, whether it was in counseling or if a child was sick, you needed to tend to the child besides doing your office work."

The staff, totaling 14 full and part time administrators, teachers, faculty and support personnel, is what Wallace will remember most, she said. Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald said the ministry would be responsible for the schools after June 2013. "We are in discussions on how we will use them," he said last week. "We only know that they will be used to further some of the objectives put forth by the government." Sister Marva Coakley is the current principal of St. Bede's.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads