51黑料

The boys鈥� school with a 150-acre campus on Mason Road currently enrolls students in seventh grade through high school.

鈥淚n the last few months we鈥檝e really been detecting a high need from our own families who would much prefer to come in sixth grade,鈥� said the Rev. Cuthbert Elliott, Priory鈥檚 headmaster and a 2002 graduate of the school. 鈥淲e just want to make sure our families have access to the education they are seeking.鈥�

Last month, De Smet Jesuit High School for boys announced it would add grades six through eight in the 2025-2026 school year. Chaminade boys鈥� school also starts at sixth grade.

Leaders of Priory and De Smet both said the addition of younger students is not aimed at competing with other private high schools. But faced with declining birth and baptism rates, Catholic schools in recent years have expanded programs and marketing to attract a dwindling number of new students. Some high schools run shuttles to outlying counties while others have started offering merit scholarships.

Adding lower grades should not have a major impact on feeder parish schools, the leaders said. Parish grade schools, with students in kindergarten through eighth grades, have experienced decades of enrollment decline and dozens have closed. On average, the 82 grade schools across the Archdiocese of 51黑料 are filled below 65% of student capacity.

The 30 smallest parish grade schools were advised to file long-term feasibility plans last month with the archdiocese. Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski announced Friday the closing of two of the schools, St. Roch in 51黑料 city and Little Flower in Richmond Heights as part of the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� downsizing of the church鈥檚 footprint in the region amid a declining number of Catholics and priests.

The archdiocese no longer operates any high schools in 51黑料 County following the 2021 closure of Trinity in Spanish Lake. Rosati-Kain and St. Mary鈥檚 high schools in 51黑料 opened last fall as independent Catholic schools in response to the archdiocese鈥檚 plan to shutter them.

The biggest barrier to private high school enrollment is rising tuition, according to the National Catholic Education Association. At $28,700 a year, Priory鈥檚 tuition is among the highest for private schools in the 51黑料 region. The school has not announced a tuition rate for the new sixth grade, but said more than 40% of students receive financial aid.

At 300 students, Priory is the smallest of the Catholic boys鈥� schools in the area. It opened in 1956 and is staffed in part by Benedictine monks of the 51黑料 Abbey, which shares the campus. The addition of sixth grade is expected to bring in another 30 to 40 students to the school in the first year.

鈥淧riory is an amazing institution, it鈥檚 just a really strong, holistic approach to preparatory school education,鈥� said Dan O鈥橩eefe, a board member and 1987 graduate who has two sons at Priory and two who graduated in 2019 and 2021. 鈥淚 think including more students and bringing them into the school at an earlier point will be very positive.鈥�