Seton Keough High School will be closing at the end of the year, the Archdiocese of Baltimore announced Wednesday.
Seton Keough opened in 1965 and can accommodate 1,200 students. This year, only 186 girls are in enrolled.
"We're just heartbroken," Colleen Middleton, a parent and alumna of Seton Keough said.
According to the Archdiocese, the school has been experiencing a steady decline in enrollment and the school "simply cannot continue operating with so few students."
"We really needed to find a way to invest our money in ways that we could build school communities that were attractive," said Dr. Barbara McGraw-Edmondson, Superintendent of Catholic Schools.
This year alone, the school will suffer a deficit of nearly $2 million by the end of the school year. The declining enrollment has made it impossible for the school to pay its bills, the Archdiocese said.
Seton Keough will be sold and the money will be reinvested in other Baltimore area schools. Holy Angels Catholic School and participants of the Operation Teach program will be relocated. For now, school leaders are thinking of those affected by this most.
"The most important thing we can do right now with these closures is ensure that we take care of these families and these students," said Jim Sellinger, Chancellor of Education of The Archdiocese of Baltimore, said.
Seton Keough will be working to help current students transition to new high schools in the fall. The Archdiocese said it will serve as a conduit between Seton Keough and the other Catholic high schools. All remaining Catholic schools will be expected to honor the Seton Keough tuition rate for at least the 2017-2018 school year.
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