A Catholic elementary school in Middlesex County will permanently close following the last day of classes Friday despite an ongoing fundraising campaign to save it, church officials said.
Supporters of Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood launched a last-ditch effort aimed at raising $500,000 after the local parish’s pastor said the 65-year-old school would close at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
The school enrolls students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The pastor cited declining enrollment as one of the reasons for the closure.
A parent organizer said Thursday morning the fundraising effort to save the school remains underway. But Diocese of Metuchen Chancellor Anthony P. Kearns said the school is still closing.
“It is a settled matter,” Kearns told NJ Advance Media Thursday.
Kearns said the decision was made after several meetings with the diocesan schools department and the pastor of the school.
“The Diocese is saddened by the closure of Immaculate Conception School, Spotswood. We are all uplifted by the tremendous spirit at ICS particularly by those who have worked so hard and with great determination in attempting to keep the school open,” Kearns said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, as reported, only 39 students were enrolled to attend next year. The pastor made the decision that the same was not sustainable and all questioned whether such limited enrollment would even be good for the remaining students,” Kearns said.
Supporters of the school launched the Save ICS — Together Foundation after Rev. John J. O’Kane, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Spotswood, announced April 4 that the school would be closing.
The group has not disclosed how much it has raised, but said on its website all donations will be returned if the school does not continue.
A parent organizer did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Kearns’ statement.
More than 30 Catholic schools in New Jersey have closed in the past five years, with church officials typically citing declining enrollment and financial pressures as factors in deciding to shut down the sites.
At least three other Catholic schools in New Jersey are scheduled to permanently close in June.
In April, days after the announcement was made about the Spotswood school, the Archdiocese of Newark said two Catholic elementary schools in Essex and Bergen counties — Aquinas Academy in Livingston and Visitation Academy in Paramus — will close at the end of the school year.
Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair is also closing after 100 years in operation, the Archdiocese of Newark announced in February.
Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood opened in September 1960 with 198 students in first through third grades, according to the school’s website.
By the following year, it had expanded to grades K-8 with 539 students. In 1965, the school constructed a two-story annex with 12 additional classrooms. Pre-kindergarten programs for children ages 2 to 4 were added in the 1990s.
Kearns said many of the remaining Immaculate Conception School students are enrolling at other Catholic schools in the area.
“We are all feeling the loss of the school, particularly because of its rich history and tradition in forming so many in their Catholic faith. There are and have been a number of internal activities both spiritual and social to mark the closing of this wonderful institution of Catholic learning,” Kearns said.
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