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Students at a Catholic elementary school in Manhattan are reeling from the unexpected news that their beloved institution is one of three schools under the New York Archdiocese slated to close its doors in June. This closure leaves families scrambling for alternative religious education options.
Incarnation School, located in Washington Heights, shared this disheartening announcement with its community on Monday. The closure is part of a broader trend affecting Catholic schools, which are grappling with declining enrollment numbers and rising tuition costs.
“It felt like a shock,” confided a fourth-grade teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, to The Post. “Throughout the year, we were told things were going well, and now we find out we’re closing. It’s devastating.”
The school, catering to students from pre-K through 8th grade, has left its young learners heartbroken at the prospect of leaving their friends and teachers behind.
“The students are distressed. There’s been a lot of tears. They genuinely enjoy being here and feel secure in this environment,” the teacher added.
The New York Archdiocese announced Monday that Incarnation School and two other Catholic schools in the state would permanently shutter at the end of the academic year, while others would merge their populations into a single campus.
The New York Archdiocese did not reveal the cause of the intense trimming, only saying that administrators “face significant challenges that make it impossible to continue our mission at these locations.”
The news comes just weeks after the Diocese of Brooklyn, which oversees Kings and Queens counties, announced that seven of its schools would shutter at the end of the school year — and one year after seven other Big Apple Catholic schools also closed their doors for good.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s kinda shocking. Incarnation’s like a family. The teachers are like family here, so they make us feel comfortable. It’s gonna be a big void and it’s gonna be big shoes to fill with the families, they spoil with us here at Incarnation,” said Laylaine Rosario, 31, whose kindergartener has been at the school for three years.
“He’s heartbroken. He’s asking if his teachers are gonna go with him. I told him, ‘Unfortunately, no, I’m sorry,’ but we have a group chat with the parents, so we’re trying to see what school most of the kids are gonna go to and see if we could keep our children together because they’ve been together for 3 years.”
Incarnation administrators have suggested alternative Catholic schools in the neighborhood that aren’t affected by the closures, but are left with limited choices after several shut down in previous years.
Many Incarnation families and students aren’t willing to consider public or charter schools.
“No, not a chance. I went to high school here in New York City. It was the worst public school,” said Vladimir Reynoyso, who has an 8-year-old enrolled at Incarnation.
The community is also left scratching its head on the cause of the closure, with most lauding the academics as excellent and worth the $6,175 per student tuition.
“My child gets a good education here, not just academic but religious as well and that’s important to you for many reasons — the structure, the discipline, and when you go to Catholic school, every parent has the same agenda,” said Calvin Soto, 42, parent to a 4th-grade daughter and an Incarnation alumnus.
“It’s devastating to me, especially as an alumni. It hurts the community because it’s been a staple of the community for many, many years.”
Ryan Seher, 47, agreed, calling the school a “fixture of the community.”
“The staff is fantastic … They are just really warm and welcoming all the time. Even the teachers who don’t teach our son, they all know his name and look out for him,” said Seher, whose 3-year-old son is in 3-K.
“I feel really bad for my son because he loves it. He has made a lot of friends. He likes his teachers and now he’s got to start over again.”
Catholic institutions have been struggling since the pandemic, with overall enrollment at Big Apple schools plummeting 23% between 2020 and 2024.
Experts blamed skyrocketing tuition prices and an overall drop in religious-centered education, as well as backlash for the church’s sex abuse scandals, as contributing factors to the plunging interest in Catholic schools.