This week, the St. Louis Archdiocese announced that two Catholic high schools, St. Mary's and Rosati-Kain, are closing as part of their "All Things New" strategic plan.
Archbishop Mitchell Rosanski said St. Mary's, built in 1931, has seen a 31% drop in numbers over the past decade, down to a current enrollment of 222 students. Rosati-Kain's current location opened in 1922, and is down to 188 students.
Alexis Endsley-Puglisi is a spokesperson for Rosati-Kain. She said the news came as a surprise.
"Shocked. I am all the range of emotions to be honest," she said. "Shocked is the first one, sad, a little angry, disappointed, upset. You know, I'm still kind of trying to process what this all means."
She told KMOX how important Rosati has been to the Catholic community in St. Louis.
"I don't think there are enough words to describe the importance of Rosati. We are the only girls school in the city Catholic Archdiocese and we have such a unique curriculum, such a diverse group of girls that attend here," she said. "We are in such a vibrant neighborhood that the girls are able to walk to just about anywhere that they want, they can grab lunch, they can grab coffee."
She added that the outreach programs they have are benefical to the community, and that the community at large will feel the loss of the school.
Mike England is the president of St. Mary's. He said his first reaction was shock, too.
"It was a gut punch that we didn't see coming and it still stings pretty bad as I'm speaking right now," he said. "The mission of St. Mary's High School is to provide a quality Catholic education to all young men who would not have access to it because of cost. And that is so important that we provide and continue to provide these opportunities for quality education to families that wouldn't normally be able to afford it."
Hear more reactions from Catholic leaders on the closures of these two schools:
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