St. Gregory High School in Edgewater is closing
BY JON SEIDEL Staff Reporter /jseidel@suntimes.com December 9, 2012 9:02PM
St. Gregory High School
Updated: January 11, 2013 6:20AM
St. Gregory the Great High School in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood will close at the end of the school year, according to the school’s website.
The Catholic school opened in 1937 as the first co-ed high school in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The school cited financial difficulties and “sizeable impending expenses” for the maintenance of its building in its explanation for shutting its doors after 75 years.
Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, said enrollment had been decreasing, but the school had been doing a “wonderful job with immigrant children and children with special needs, and that’s why the archdiocese kept investing in it as long as possible.”
But the enrollment now is less than 100 students, and it was time to make a transition.
At a recent parents meeting about the school’s closing, parents were sad but hopeful, though they were worried about the teachers.
School officials said they’ve worked out a transition for students to attend Holy Trinity High School about six miles south of St. Gregory. It insists that parents “will not pay more” at Holy Trinity. And while all students will go through an application process there, St. Gregory officials promised to work with parents “if you end up not going to Holy Trinity.”
If a student chooses to attend another Catholic high school, St. Gregory’s website says the archdiocese will give $1,000 to the new school for 2013-2014 tuition.
