Finances leave ‘no viable path forward’ for the school in north St. Louis County, pastor said
Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Cool Valley in north St. Louis County will close at the end of the 2024-25 school year, the archdiocese announced Dec. 10.
Last year, Our Lady of Guadalupe School, along with about one-third of parish elementary schools in the archdiocese, was asked to prepare a three-year viability study. The study was prepared and accepted, allowing the school to remain open this year, Our Lady of Guadalupe pastor Father Patrick Hayden wrote in a letter to school families.
When school and parish leadership were preparing an update to the plan this fall, the “extremely precarious financial position of both our school and parish” was brought to Father Hayden’s attention, he said. Our Lady of Guadalupe required emergency assistance from the archdiocese to stabilize operations and continue to pay staff in the spring semester.
“Even with this ongoing assistance, there is no viable path forward in light of the dire financial straits of our parish and school. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience request the permission necessary to offer our principals and teachers contracts for the 2025-2026 school year, because there will be no monies on July 1, 2025, to honor those contracts,” Father Hayden said in the letter. “As a result, Our Lady of Guadalupe School will conclude its mission at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.”
Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski accepted Father Hayden’s recommendation to close the school. Father Hayden’s letter was sent to school families, in both English and Spanish, earlier in the afternoon Dec. 10.
Our Lady of Guadalupe School was founded 70 years ago. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, established in 1954, has been a personal parish for Hispanic Catholics since 2005. Enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is 203 students in grades K-8.
To help school families transition to another Catholic school, the Office of Catholic Education and Formation will host a school fair in early January, as well as individual visits at neighboring Catholic schools. Scholarships from the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation, which about 90% of Our Lady of Guadalupe School families receive, will follow the students to their next Catholic school.
The archdiocese will provide placement assistance to Our Lady of Guadalupe faculty and staff.
“The Christian Catholic family that came together 70 years ago under the maternal care of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been a source of life, formation and strength in the Lord for so many families over these past generations,” Father Hayden said in the letter. “The valiant efforts and the sacrificial generosity of the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and school families together with all the pastors, religious, principals, teachers, staff and volunteers, has made possible the formation and education of innumerable children. For such generous self-giving and joyful sacrifice of so many, may we be forever grateful and may God bless them abundantly.
“Lest we should give our hearts and words over to disillusionment and despair (or worse), let us together remember the invitation of Our Lady of Guadalupe to trust her Son, especially now in our disappointment, confusion or even anger. With her maternal love, may she help us renounce bitterness in favor of undying gratitude and hope.”
In a statement, Archbishop Rozanski also expressed his gratitude for the principals, teachers and staff at Our Lady of Guadalupe School, parents and all who share their gifts in parish and diocesan schools.
“Please keep all who have are affected by the closing of Our Lady of Guadalupe School in your prayers, as I am keeping them in mine,” he said.
