I understand that a lot of people do not care about the future of south city catholic parishes, but everyone should care. A lot of these parishes are the centerpiece and the glue that holds neighborhoods in south city together. It is not about religious affiliation. St. James in Dogtown is fighting to stay open and grow enrollment. The financial crisis has started to cut into parish funds everywhere. All I can say is that supporting these parishes, is like supporting the stability of your neighborhood. Saw this article on stltoday from the Suburban Journal.



http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/ar ... james0.txt

Very sad to hear. Epiphany's enrollment decline is especially shocking.



Both of these parishes could use more larger (3-4 bedroom) single family homes. Dogtown, in particular, has so many small homes, making it less attractive to families (in the city or county), and I would think that enrollment will always be an issue until the neighborhood's housing stock is improved a little.

Its sad to see so many Catholic schools in the city of STL closing. One of the biggest detriments to the city is the lack of quality public schools. With private alternatives diminishing, the city will have an even more difficult time attracting new residents.



St. James is one of the main reasons Dogtown is such a tight nit community. It would be a shame to loose that school.

Good news..St James is not closing. The school was having financial issues due to the economic downturn and losses in their fund. They had a very successful direct appeal and a few events such as their auction. The school in much better shape now, than when I started the thread. St. James is the backbone of the neighborhood. That is why all Dogtown residents have to support the school and get involved in some way. Without the school, the stability of the area is in jeopardy.

Anyone heard anything about Epiphany's status? I recently learned some friends of ours in the parish have been sending their kids to St. Roch's in fear that Epiphany's school may close.

This is the last year for the school at Epiphany. The school is not being merged with any of the surrounding schools, parents will be free to send their kid's to the school of their choice.

MattnSTL wrote:This is the last year for the school at Epiphany. The school is not being merged with any of the surrounding schools, parents will be free to send their kid's to the school of their choice.

That's too bad. The church is still open though, right?

^Yes, the church will remain open.

My understanding is that St. James and Epiphany were going to merge, but Epiphany wanted St. James kids to come and vice versa. The initial agreement was for St. James to be the location of the combined school. Things got mucked up and a rift formed between the schools. St. James has been trying to repair that rift, but I have not heard how that is going. It is a no brainer for those kids to come to Dogtown. Why some would go all the way to St. Roch's, I'll never know. I wish all of the schools could stay open, but that is not reality. Kind of makes me angry, when I hear about the parishes in Oakville, St. Charles and others, that have so many kids, they don't know what to do with themselves, while the city schools struggle. Very unfortunate, as those parishes are the glue that keeps neighborhoods together. I just hope St. James is not next. Would be horrible for Dogtown.