Plans for merging two schools into a new $13.5 million building in Waukegan are on hold in the wake of the Chicago archdiocese’s school-closing announcements.
Instead, Lake Shore Catholic Academy will close in June and its pupils will be sent to Immaculate Conception in Waukegan, officials said Friday.
The archdiocese announced this week that 23 schools will close in response to declining enrollment.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions,” said Sister Miriam Patrick Cummings, Lake Shore administrator. “The students keep asking what’s going to happen to the building. We don’t know what to tell them.”
In June, the archdiocese announced it would consolidate Immaculate Conception and Lake Shore into a new building in Waukegan. Initially, school officials planned to close one of Lake Shore’s buildings and move students to Immaculate Conception at the end of this school year, but then plans changed, Cummings said.
Parents and staff members who learned about the closing of Lake Shore have been left numb, said Rev. Gary Graf. Many had high hopes their school would be rejuvenated in a new building.
“It’s traumatic,” he said. “There was so much hope in getting a new school. Now parents don’t know what to feel.”
Enrollment at Lake Shore dropped from 639 to 331 in nine years, Cummings said. There are 165 pupils at Immaculate Conception, but the building is more modern and large enough to accommodate more, she said.
For Joel Chacon, 12, news that Lake Shore was closing was particularly devastating. The 7th grader started at the school in pre-kindergarten.
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“I wanted to graduate from here,” he said. “But that dream is crushed now.”
“I had a lot of fun in this building,” said Daniela Martinez, 13, and a 7th grader. “I’m really sad.”
Although closing the school is difficult, Cummings said she is leaning on her faith to get her through.
“It is death and resurrection,” she said. “This is the death, but we haven’t gotten to the resurrection yet. There is good news beyond this.”
In another move, the north campus of Our Lady of Destiny School, 795 Center St., in Des Plaines, will close in June and pupils will move to the south campus, officials said.
The transition should be smooth since the faculty and staff will keep their positions, Principal Linda Chorazy said.