ST. LOUIS 鈥 Rosati-Kain High School could be designated as a city landmark, boosting efforts to fight the Archdiocese of 51黑料鈥 plan to close the school at the end of the year.
The city鈥檚 Preservation Board voted Monday to start the landmark designation process for the school through the Cultural Resources Office. A petition would also need to appear before the 51黑料 Board of Aldermen for final approval.
The board鈥檚 chairman, Richard Callow, said he was surprised to learn Rosati-Kain is not already on the list of city landmarks, which does not . Board member David Richardson said the school has a 鈥渃ompelling case鈥 based on its longstanding service to the city.
Last month, the Archdiocese of 51黑料 announced the closures of Rosati-Kain and St. Mary鈥檚 high schools as part of the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 downsizing plan, which is expected to close dozens of parishes and grade schools when final plans are announced next spring.
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The Catholic girls鈥 high school at 4389 Lindell Boulevard opened 100 years ago next to the Cathedral Basilica. The brick-and-stone school topped 1,000 students in the 1940s and was one of the first high schools in 51黑料 to racially integrate, seven years before Brown v. Board of Education.
Rosati-Kain alumni include Judge Robin Ransom, the first Black woman to serve on the Missouri Supreme Court; Margie Imo, co-founder of Imo鈥檚 Pizza; and Ceri Brush, one of the first girls in the country to become an Eagle Scout.
The school鈥檚 current enrollment has dipped below 200, considered a benchmark for financial viability. There are just 33 girls in the freshman class. Rosati-Kain supporters said the longstanding rumors about the school鈥檚 future turned off some families looking for stability.
They also point to their 2015 fundraiser to build a $4.5 million, 12,000-square-foot classroom addition in a former convent on the campus. The addition includes science labs, multimedia classrooms and study areas including an outdoor courtyard.
At the dedication ceremony, Sister Joan Andert, the school鈥檚 president, said the addition was built 鈥渢o celebrate our heritage and our future. ... We have a commitment to stay right here in the Central West End.鈥
Alumni and other supporters of the school are forming a nonprofit called R-K Forever and have held negotiations with the archdiocese regarding the use of the school building as an independent school 鈥減ending the blessing of the archbishop, which is what we鈥檝e asked for,鈥 Cynthia Goudy, class of 2003, told the Preservation Board.
St. Mary鈥檚 leaders and alumni are also working to stay open independent of the archdiocese. The boys school on south Grand Boulevard has anchored the Dutchtown neighborhood since opening as South Side Catholic High in 1931. The school reached a peak of 1,100 students in the late 1940s before changing its name to St. Mary鈥檚. Notable alumni include former Mayor Francis Slay, who supports efforts to save the school.
Similar efforts to save St. James the Greater in Dogtown worked for two additional years as a parish-run school after the archdiocese moved to close it in 2017. The school stopped receiving its annual $250,000 subsidy from the archdiocese and enrollment had dropped to 73 students when it closed in 2019.
At the time, then-pastor the Rev. Rajpaul Sundararaj said the community fundraising was not sufficient to offset a lack of students.
鈥淲ithout a dramatic increase in students, the future of our school is not healthy,鈥 he wrote in a post to social media.
In the past 20 years, Catholic schools in the city have faced significant competition from tuition-free charter schools including a handful like Gateway Science Academy which have opened in former Catholic school buildings.
Catholic high school enrollment in the 51黑料 region has declined 22% over the past decade, according to the archdiocese. Three Catholic high schools have closed in the past decade due to low enrollment, including Trinity in Spanish Lake in 2021, John F. Kennedy in west 51黑料 County in 2017 and St. Elizabeth Academy in south 51黑料 in 2013.
In addition to Bishop DuBourg, Rosati-Kain and St. Mary鈥檚 high schools, the archdiocese operates Cardinal Ritter in 51黑料, St. Pius X in Jefferson County, Duchesne and St. Dominic in St. Charles County, and St. Francis Borgia in Franklin County.
