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Post by newfieguy74 on May 4, 2023 10:36:34 GMT -5
Having great sports programs helps. I went to St. John's Prep in Danvers. It was, and still is, a sports powerhouse in MA. It has a beautiful campus and facilities. Good athletes flock there and they have a lot of varsity sports (including, I think, water polo and alpine skiing). Catholic identity + strong academics + great sports programs + money = success. By contrast, Marian HS in Framingham, where my three sons went, hung on by its fingernails for many years before succumbing. It had a single building, no money, a modest (but hardworking) sports dept., and just not enough on the plus side to convince local parents to pay the tuition instead of sending their children to some of the good local public high schools or some of the available private schools (e.g St. Mark's).
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Post by rf1 on May 4, 2023 10:48:37 GMT -5
So far this year per a quick count on my part, these Ma Catholic High Schools have announced they are closing in June:
St Joseph Prep Boston - Brighton
Mt Alvernia - Newton Bishop Connolly - Fall River Cambridge Matingon - Cambridge Per a source I found, there were 48 Catholic High Schools operating in the state in the 2022-23 academic year.
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Post by football44 on May 4, 2023 11:42:42 GMT -5
Spoke with an old friend at my old high school, Malden Catholic. He mentioned that MC like St. Johns Prep are going to open up to 7th and 8th graders in the near future. They just recently started accepting young ladies at MC. That has been a tremendous success (financially). There are a number of Catholic schools that are going to join the list of closings. Unfortunately this is real world today.
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Post by Tom on May 4, 2023 12:31:33 GMT -5
Spoke with an old friend at my old high school, Malden Catholic. He mentioned that MC like St. Johns Prep are going to open up to 7th and 8th graders in the near future. They just recently started accepting young ladies at MC. That has been a tremendous success (financially). There are a number of Catholic schools that are going to join the list of closings. Unfortunately this is real world today. Malden Catholic is run by the same group as St Johns High(Shrewbury), St Johns Prep(Danvers) and Xaverian(Westwood). It will be worth watching to see if the other three schools also go co-ed
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Post by newfieguy74 on May 4, 2023 13:07:01 GMT -5
Spoke with an old friend at my old high school, Malden Catholic. He mentioned that MC like St. Johns Prep are going to open up to 7th and 8th graders in the near future. They just recently started accepting young ladies at MC. That has been a tremendous success (financially). There are a number of Catholic schools that are going to join the list of closings. Unfortunately this is real world today. Malden Catholic is run by the same group as St Johns High(Shrewbury), St Johns Prep(Danvers) and Xaverian(Westwood). It will be worth watching to see if the other three schools also go co-ed St. John's Prep went co-ed for a while and abandoned it. I think the feeling was that its identity is as an all boys school. Adding grades 7-8 helped financially. When I went there, many years ago, it was a boarding school but it eventually stopped that as well.
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Post by gks on May 4, 2023 13:12:25 GMT -5
Having great sports programs helps. I went to St. John's Prep in Danvers. It was, and still is, a sports powerhouse in MA. It has a beautiful campus and facilities. Good athletes flock there and they have a lot of varsity sports (including, I think, water polo and alpine skiing). Catholic identity + strong academics + great sports programs + money = success. By contrast, Marian HS in Framingham, where my three sons went, hung on by its fingernails for many years before succumbing. It had a single building, no money, a modest (but hardworking) sports dept., and just not enough on the plus side to convince local parents to pay the tuition instead of sending their children to some of the good local public high schools or some of the available private schools (e.g St. Mark's). Schools like SJ Prep, Xaverian and even St. John's Shrewsbury now have more in common with schools such as Worcester Academy and other traditional prep school than they do with local public schools. The SJ Prep athletic facility is on par with many colleges. There will soon be a day when these schools leave the MIAA and become true prep schools. Adding 7th and 8th grades and allowing for 'reclassifications' are just a part of this.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on May 4, 2023 15:17:06 GMT -5
Malden Catholic is run by the same group as St Johns High(Shrewbury), St Johns Prep(Danvers) and Xaverian(Westwood). It will be worth watching to see if the other three schools also go co-ed St. John's Prep went co-ed for a while and abandoned it. I think the feeling was that its identity is as an all boys school. Adding grades 7-8 helped financially. When I went there, many years ago, it was a boarding school but it eventually stopped that as well. St. John's Prep now has a sixth grade.. Looking at the Middle School curriculum, I would say it is really quite rigorous. www.stjohnsprep.org/academics/middle-school-program-of-study/world-languagesOf note, religious studies is combined with Latin in the sixth grade, and religious studies is discontinued in the 7th and 8th grades.
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Post by Ignutz on May 4, 2023 16:26:32 GMT -5
Malden Catholic is run by the same group as St Johns High(Shrewbury), St Johns Prep(Danvers) and Xaverian(Westwood). It will be worth watching to see if the other three schools also go co-ed St. John's Prep went co-ed for a while and abandoned it. I think the feeling was that its identity is as an all boys school. Adding grades 7-8 helped financially. When I went there, many years ago, it was a boarding school but it eventually stopped that as well. My understanding is that St. John's Prep (literally my backyard neighbor) was "co-ed" for one year quite awhile ago - solely to provide a landing spot for girls who were left high and dry by the sudden closing of St. Chritienne Academy in Salem, MA in the early 70s. Within the past ten years or so, SJP considered two options - co-ed or opening a middle school. They opted for the latter. The middle school is doing very well - as is the high school.
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