Suburban Catholic School Set To Close: 'Devastating'

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, IL — A community is coming together in an attempt to save St. Alphonsus Liguori School in Prospect Heights, which is set to close due to financial challenges.

A GoFundMe webpage seeking donations to prevent the closure cited school debts and a growing need for financial aid as the reasons the school plans to close its doors. St. Alphonsus Liguori was founded nearly 70 years ago, according to the fundraiser webpage, which had received about $31,000 in donations as of Tuesday evening toward its $500,000 goal.

“Many of our current staff members were once students here, and now their children walk the same halls,” organizer Natalia Evangelista wrote on the webpage. “… The bonds formed here are strong, and the impact of closing our doors would be devastating.”

St. Alphonsus Liguori serves students in preschool through eighth grade. An online petition to save the school had received over 400 signatures as of late Tuesday.

Students and educators held a rally Monday morning to show their opposition to the closure, FOX 32 reported, after learning St. Alphonsus Liguori would not reopen for the new school year.

Archdiocese authorities in a statement told the station that declining enrollment was a major factor in the decision, adding enrollment dropped sharply in the current academic year and was projected to stay low during the next school year as well.