This week, the St. Louis Preservation Board voted to begin the process of designating Rosati Kain High School as a historic landmark. The vote comes after the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced their "All Things New" restructuring plan would shut down the school alongside the all-boys school St. Mary's.
Melissa Brickey, an alum of Rosati Kain and a member of the RK Forever Steering Committee, talked with KMOX about what the plans are for her alma mater to stay open, and what the historical landmark designation means.
"We think it just adds credence to the fact that it's an important place for education, and so we're really excited to get that from the Preservation Board right now," Brickey said. "We have a group of about 500 alums, parents, community leaders who are working hard through our RK Forever efforts to keep the school open, so any community support we get, like the Preservation Board, just means a lot to us."
Brickey said that in a meeting with the Archdiocese last week, Rosati Kain submitted a proposal to keep the school running independently. She said the meeting went "quite well."
"We're really excited to have such community support. The Archdiocese has said that they are very willing to work with us. So we're moving forward," she said. "You know, we know that the truth of Rosati Kain is that we offer a gift to the community in our 111 year old just commitment to [social] justice and diversity and creating a community of belonging. So we know how important our legacy is and how important our future is."
Brickey said that while Rosati Kain's enrollment has been down, the goal for the future is to bring in more students. She and others hope that the excitement about the school staying open and the buzz around it will draw more people in.
Hear more about the future of Rosati Kain on Total Information AM:
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