St. Jane Frances in Pasadena transitioning to preschool

A plunge in enrollment linked to the coronavirus pandemic means that St. Jane Frances School in Pasadena will transition from a pre-K3 through grade 8 school to a preschool serving 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds for the 2020-21 school year.

Parents of students and parish families were informed in a letter dated July 9 from Monsignor Carl Cummings, pastor of St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish.

“As we have seen these past months, 2020 has been a year unlike any other,” he wrote. “The COVID-19 virus has taken both lives and livelihoods, devastating families and communities alike. Now, sadly, its impact has struck far closer to home than any of us would want.”

Monsignor Cummings’ letter noted that enrollment for the 2019-20 school year was 172 children, including 52 in the pre-school grades. The number of children formally enrolled for the 2020-21 school year had dropped to approximately 80.

“It is financially impossible to operate a K-8 program with so few students committed to attending this fall,” Monsignor Cummings wrote.

In a phone interview with the Review, he said, “It’s sad, because it’s such a fine school. When push came to shove, there was a decision to make. Either make it a pre-school, or close. We’ll be one of the very few (schools) offering pre-K for 2-year-olds.”

The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Department of Catholic Schools is helping students in grades K-8 and teachers fill available seats and classrooms, respectively, at other Catholic schools, and conducting interviews to build a new staff for St. Jane Frances Preschool.

Denise Ball, associate superintendent, said that she expects to have a director hired by July 31, and that St. Jane Frances Preschool expects to open in conjunction with other Catholic schools in the archdiocese. A draft plan released July 16 listed a start date of Aug. 31 for students in Catholic schools.

“The campus has been providing Catholic education for 75 years,” Ball told the Review. “Families are sad, but excited that Catholic education is going to continue on campus.”

Ball said that as of July 22, approximately 20 children were in the process of enrolling in St. Jane Frances Preschool, and that more than 50 students in older grades will attend one of the other five Catholic schools in Anne Arundel County: Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie; School of the Incarnation in Gambrills, St. John the Evangelist School in Severna Park; St. Mary’s School in Annapolis, and St. Philip Neri School in Linthicum.

“We’re working with human resources to get (former St. Jane Frances) teachers interviews with other Catholic schools,” Ball said.

Ball said that every school family was personally contacted by an archdiocesan representative about the transition, and that Monsignor Cummings, principal Elena Simmons and leaders from the Department of Catholic Schools attended a July 13 session with parents of rising eighth-graders.

“I was touched by their devotion to Catholic education, and their love of the parish and the school,” Ball said. “It had the potential to be negative, but I was so impressed with their grace.”

The development team for St. Jane Frances Preschool includes Sally Lake, director of Our Lady of Grace Preschool in Parkton, which underwent a similar transition in 2017, and Aida Nichols, the preschool leader at St. Augustine in Elkridge, where Ball previously served as principal. 

In addition to hiring a director and teachers, tasks include filing for a new child-care license.

In his letter to parishioners and school families, Monsignor Cummings noted the the cancellation of fundraising opportunities; the fact that some families were unable to complete their tuition payments for the past year; and that the “parish subsidy to the school is no longer sustainable to the same extent as it was in the past due to the closure of the church as a result of the pandemic.”

He noted a number of investments made in the school’s physical plant in recent years, and in his letter to parents, wrote that, while the parish will transition to a preschool, “it is our deepest prayer that the K-8 grades can once again be added as demand and financial stability returns to our community.”

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org.

This story was updated July 22 at 8:57 p.m. to correct the spelling of Sally Lake’s name.

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