Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to close 2 schools, merge 2 others next school year

Bishop David Zubik announced Saturday that two Catholic schools will close next school year, while another two will merge to form a new school.

St. John Bosco Academy in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood and St. Agnes School in West Mifflin will close, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Saturday.

St. Malachy School in Kennedy Township will merge with Holy Trinity School in Robinson Township to form “Archangel Gabriel School.

The Holy Trinity site will house grades K-8 and preschool will be at St. Malachy.

St. Raphael School in Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood and St. Sylvester School in Brentwood will remain open for the 2019-20 school year.

Michael Latusek, diocesan superintendent, said closing and merging schools is sad, but praised the “efforts of school leaders, parents and the community in supporting the schools.”

“The diocese will facilitate meetings of parents with principals from nearby Catholic elementary schools and assure them of opportunities to continue a Catholic education for their child,” Zubik said in a statement.

The diocese also said it will create a South Region as part of its ongoing regionalization plan, which will include 14 schools that serve 21 parish groupings. No further information was immediately available.

The South Region announcement follows the establishment of a Pittsburgh-East region in 2018 and a North Hills region in 2017.

According to the statement release Saturday, “regionalization is intended to reinforce Catholic schools’ identity and mission, reallocate resources to enhance academic excellence, stabilize enrollment, and enable greater collaboration in curriculum, technology, professional development, athletics and fundraising.”

The five-year regionalization plan, dubbed On Mission for the Church Alive!, is designed to address declining church attendance and financial struggles.

It calls for the diocese’s 188 parishes to be placed in 57 groupings that will become new parishes between 2020 and 2023.

Priests and deacons have been assigned to serve in parishes, as well as major hospitals, nursing homes, colleges, high schools and correctional institutions. The plan can be found here.