Just a week after announcing its impending closure, Saint Kateri School in Irondequoit held its annual Christmas concert. Principal Anthony Reale called it “bittersweet.”
“I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for being part of this special event,” he said to parents and staff, his voice breaking with emotion.
Students from preschool age to fifth grade dressed in festive outfits — red and white striped stockings, reindeer antlers, and other holiday paraphernalia — filed onto the alter and sang “Joy to the World” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to a crowd that giggled, “awwed” and, at times, wept.
Aria Matthews is a parent who saw all three of her children through the school. Her son is in fifth grade, a class of only seven children.
“We've been in this community for about 10 years now,” she said. “This is where we call home. It's extra emotional.”
A letter from the school’s pastor, Father Lance Gonyo, cited declining enrollment as the main factor in the school’s closure.
Saint Kateri joins a growing list of Catholic schools that have shuttered in recent years. But parents blame the administration for not doing more to save their school.
Terra Rivera has a fifth grader and a third-grader at the school.
“These kids know their school is closing,” she said. “They put on a smiling face, and they put on a show for us like you would never believe.”
The school originally opened under the name Christ the King school in 1957. After this year, some of the students will matriculate into their local public schools, or other Catholic grammar schools in Monroe County.