School closing rumor hits community hard

Kai-Lin Rausch’s daughter who is in the fourth-grade, cried when she found out her school, Saint Gabriel School, might close after 82 years.

According to Rausch, there was a rumor she heard on Feb. 6 that the Archdiocese of New York would officially announce the closing announcement on Wednesday.

A call to the school’s principal Anthony Naccari was not returned as of press time.

“It’s very confusing for us as parents because it’s all a rumor,” Rausch said. “We’ve been trying to think of ways that we can fight without knowing if it’s actually true.”

First, on Thursday night, parents created a campaign where they, alumni and students wrote letters to the superintendent of schools Michael Deegan, who oversees 122 elementary and secondary schools of the archdiocese and the regional superintendent of the northwest and south Bronx John Riley.

Rausch encouraged families to participate in the campaign because several parents are alumni. In some cases, parents send their children to St. Gabriel because they want their children to have the same education they received.

Second, there was a rally on St. Valentine’s Day in the schoolyard for students and parents to show their love for the school. A parent advertised the rally to parents to come together in support of the Catholic school because teachers and staff were not allowed to join due to union rules.

Parents who organized the rally also wished math teacher Glen McCarthy, a teacher at St. Gabriel for 40 years, a happy 72nd birthday.

“If they want to keep the Catholic Church alive — it’s through children,” Rausch said.

“When you look around and when you go to church, you see the young families,” she said. “Those are the families that go to the school, so if they don’t have that anymore, I just, I really think it leads to the decline of the church.”

Local electeds chimed in on the possible closure, with Councilman Eric Dinowitz speaking at the rally.

“Saint Gabriel Church has been a cornerstone of our community for many years. It has been a place of solace, community and comfort for countless worshipers and non-worshipers alike, and its closure would directly hurt congregants, school families and the fabric of our neighborhood,” said in a letter of protest to Cardinal Timothy Dolan by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Councilman Dinowitz.

The Riverdale Press asked Rausch about local politicians showing their support and she said it shows that it is not just a school issue, it’s a community issue.

Parents are not convinced that it is an education issue. The rumor of the closure started because some of its students transferred to prestigious Catholic high schools.

Rausch does not allow her mind to travel to the possibility of finding schools for her daughter to transfer to because she always envisioned her daughter graduating from Saint Gabriel like her two other sons. Her eldest is a freshman at the Holy Cross High School and her middle son is sophomore at Regis High School — both prestigious and highly selective high schools.

The northwest Bronx politicians questioned and understood if it was a financial decision forcing the archdiocese to close. But they were clear to mention that the school and church brings positivity to the community.

Parents are unsure where their children will go if the school rumors are true. However, previous Catholic schools closed, and its students came to Saint Gabriel.

Visitation School on West 239th Street was permanently closed in 2017. St. John School of Kingsbridge closed its doors in 2020.