Mirroring a national trend, local Catholic schools have been faced with the rising cost of tuition and declining rates of enrollment in past years. In order to offset this, two local schools have merged into one.
Holy Family Catholic Academy is the new name of the school, which houses the combined student bodies of Holy Family Interparochial School in Norwood and Catholic Academy of Northern Valley in Closter. Its location is the former Interparochial School, at Immaculate Conception Parish in Norwood, which is big enough to allow for growth of the student body.
These two K-8 schools experienced a decline in enrollment and were forced to raise tuition between 2005 and 2007. According to figures from the Archdiocese of Newark, in September 2007, the student body at Catholic Academy totaled 119, down from 131 in 2005. Holy Family’s student body was 185 in 2007, well below the 2005 population of 285. In addition, per-student education costs raised between 2005 and 2007 from $5,200 to $7,870 at Catholic Academy and from $4,800 to $7,336 at Holy Family.
The parishes, which have sponsored these schools, are from the communities of Closter, Demarest, Haworth, Norwood, Old Tappan, Northvale and Harrington Park. All are under the purview of the Archdiocese of Newark, which released a statement regarding the merging in January.
"By forming one school in one location, the pastors expect to maintain competitive costs and services and utilize the best of both programs to meet and exceed the needs of today’s students," the statement read. "They also believe that an improved financial status for the new school will stabilize tuition, thus ensuring that Catholic education remains affordable for those who wish to embrace it."
According to Archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness, the tuition rates have not been finalized yet. He said there are still no plans for the school building in Closter but that most of the schools are used for "religious education and other purposes."
When asked about transportation costs, Goodness said bussing arrangements would depend on what the individual towns provide, but he added that he thinks most students are driven to school.
A Board of Advisors for the new school will be drawn from members of the boards of the two schools, and Goodness said, "Committees involved in shaping the new school will look at transportation."
