While two Catholic grade schools will close in south St. Louis next fall, seven other parishes confirmed today that their schools will remain open.

All nine schools are members of the South City Collaboration, a coalition of parishes working together on challenges in their schools like declining enrollment, financial difficulties and the shifting population of south St. Louis. 

Last year two of the parishes, St. John the Baptist and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, decided to close their schools after the end of this school year. The future of the other seven schools was in flux until the announcement today.

Pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish Monsignor Michael Turek said that while the schools remaining open is good news, the Collaboration will keep talking about future plans.

“There certainly can be changes in the future,” Turek said. "We don’t know what they are; we don’t have that crystal ball. So the conversation, the study and the investigation of this situation is an ongoing complex dynamic that we continue to study, pray about and strategize.”

The South City Collaboration will continue working together in the coming months to find a successful long-term educational model for their schools.

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