La Salette Closure Splits Up Best Friends

Editor's note: This story is part of a weeklong series about the impact of the Archdiocese of Detroit's decision to close of Our Lady of La Salette Catholic School and Academy in Berkley at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

Alex Beverly has been crying herself to sleep.

The nine-year-old and her best friend Jaime Saliba, also 9, who have attended Our Lady of La Salette Catholic School and Academy in Berkley together since their pre-kindergarten days, will be forced apart following the school's closure at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year. 

Theirs is just one of the friendships that will take more of an effort to maintain as children re-locate to private and public schools throughout Metro Detroit.

Alex, who lives in Detroit, will attend St. Mary Catholic School in Royal Oak – a convenient drive up Woodward Avenue for her family – while Jaime, who lives in Berkley, will attend Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Beverly Hills.

Alex's mom Michaele Miller of Detroit said the process of leaving La Salette has been "heart-wrenching" and her daughter has been crying herself to sleep.

She said many La Salette families have tried to stay together and even toured other Catholic schools as a group. At least five La Salette families will enroll their students at St. Mary in the fall, Miller said.

"We're very sad and emotional," Alex said while seated next to Jaime in their fourth-grade, multi-age classroom June 8 during an alumni reunion at the school. "I really just wanted to feel the rhythm of the school one last time, the connection I have with it."

Jaime added that "everyone's been crying all the time" since they learned La Salette would close.

"It's like, most kids go to school and they're like, 'I don't want to be here,' and I'm just happy to be here and see my friends and see my teachers (Miss Giasson and Mrs. Boura)," she said.

Jaime's father Jim Saliba of Berkley, whose two older daughters also attended La Salette, said he valued the school for its diversity of race and religion, as well as the fact that its students hailed from different cities.

"I thought that was the best thing my kids could learn: Everyone's equal in god's eyes," he said. "We're fortunate the kids got a great education here."

Coming Tuesday: A former teacher reconnects with her first students in their La Salette classroom.