St. Monica School Closes After 96 Years

After 96 years of serving K-8 students in Berwyn and surrounding communities, St. Monica School is now closed.

The final day came as teachers, students and faculty packed books into mini vans and trucks and the entire school community celebrated a mass featuring laughs, tears and as parish Pastor Fr. William Trader told students, "memories to hold in your hearts."

Thursday was the culmination of a for a small and tight-knit parish school community that began in the middle of the winter, right after Christmas vacation. as part of a much broader plan to save money and revamp the Archdiocese's financially strapped school system.

"There's no way to prepare for a day like this."

While teachers, students and workers from other schools loaded vehicles with stacks of textbooks, lab supplies from classrooms, parents, a teacher, Principal Lisa Hoban, and school staff members took time out of an emotional and busy morning Thursday to talk with TE Patch about the closing.

"There's no way to prepare for a day like this," explained Principal Lisa Hoban, finishing a thought for a teacher who was choking back tears while attempting to answer the question.

"It's not just a school, it's a family," Anne Bondi tells Patch. Bondi taught the sixth grade class and has three children who all attended St. Monica School (SMS). One of her children was in her class this year, another is younger and a third moved from St. Monica to Conestoga High School after eighth grade.

Bondi says the past week has been especially tough as the last day of school, not only for the summer, but forever, loomed at SMS. She says her sixth grader had said that by Thursday commented she had cried so much over the closing that 'I don't think I have any tears left.'

Kurt Jeffers has been the Facility Manager at the school for nine years. He is officially on the parish staff, which means he will be staying to take care of the buildings that until yesterday housed the school. The buildings will still be used for Catholic Eduation classes which actually have about double the number of students as the school. Sundays and some weeknights will see the classrooms bustling with kids.  Jeffers says it's going to be sad and very different during the week when halls that have been teaming with kids for so many years are empty during school hours. "Next year it'll be like hello?.....hello?" Jeffers remarked, making an echo sound effect with his voice.

A Mass to Remember

At 9:30 a.m. St. Monica Parish Pastor Father William Trader walked down the center aisle of the church to lead the final all-school mass.

"This is not a liturgy I wanted to celebrate," Fr.Trader told a church full of school students, faculty, staff, families and others from the parish at large. Summing up the feelings of virtually everyone on the church and school campus in the heart of The Village of Berwyn, Trader told worshippers he was "confused, angry, sad, but full of lots of happy memories too."

During his homily Trader, who often walks through the aisles and pews while delivering his sermons, said he wanted to 'just sit and talk' directly with the students for this last service.

He began by talking about all the happy memories students will carry with them to their new schools. It wasn't long before the pastor was up and walking the aisles and pews, holding a microphone and asking students to offer their fondest and happy memories of their time at St. Monica School.

A special send-off

After the mass ended, parents and other adults planned a surprise send off for the students, forming a human "tunnel" for students to walk through in the parking lot from the doors of the church back to the school building for one last time. 

With 96 years of tradition behind them and futures at other schools ahead, the last students of Saint Monica School received a standing ovation as they made a familiar walk from mass back to class.

It was a final tribute not only to the last students to wear the St. Monica School uniforms, but to all who had come before them as students, faculty, staff, and members in what their community will always think of as the St. Monica Parish School family.