ST. LOUIS — The only all-girls Catholic high school in the City of St. Louis will stay open.
Organizers with Rosati-Kain finalized a lease agreement with the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
This is after the school was notified in September, it would be forced to close because of a consolidation plan called "All Things New" by the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
"We're just on cloud nine," Cynthia Forcelledo Goudy told 5 On Your Side Monday morning.
It's a feeling she along with hundreds of students and alums have been waiting for.
Goudy is the chair of RK Forever, the alumnae group who fought for Rosati to become independent, now known as Rosati-Kain Academy.
The news of the high school staying open came on Jesus' birthday.
"It's definitely a Christmas miracle!" Forcelledo Goudy added. "Those lease negotiations took quite a while."
She says a three-year lease is now signed.
But they needed help to get there.
Forcelledo Goudy explained, "Our last sponsor was the Archdiocese and now it being an independent school, we need a sponsor. The sponsor was the last thing to kind of come together."
That's where St. Joseph Educational Ministries, or SJEM, step in. It was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Sister Rita Marie Schmitz is SJEM's Vice President.
She said, "It's a lay organization that sponsors institutions. We received the public juridic person status from the Vatican. We have the blessing of the Pope."
SJEM Function
SJEM is a model of Catholic sponsorship called a ministerial public juridic person.
This status by the Vatican means lay people can take on the sponsorship role traditionally held only by religious orders.
“Ministerial public juridic person” is a canonical term for a group of people who collectively further the Church's mission with the Vatican's approval, along with the cooperation of local bishops.
Now, SJEM will be the bridge between Rosati-Kain Academy and the Church.
SJEM will add Rosati-Kain Academy to its current set of sponsored institutions:
- Fontbonne University, Clayton, Mo.
- St. Joseph’s Academy, Frontenac, Mo.
- Avila University, Kansas City, Mo.
- St. Teresa’s Academy, Kansas City, Mo.
- St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf, Brentwood, Mo., and Indianapolis, Ind.
Todd Sweda, Ed. D., superintendent for secondary education and senior director, Office of Catholic Education and Formation, with Archdiocese of St. Louis released this statement:
"We are pleased that members of St. Joseph Educational Ministries (SJEM), with the blessing of the St. Louis Province Leadership of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, have approved a request by the newly formed Rosati-Kain Academy to become the school’s canonical sponsor."
"It's a fit"
Schmitz said adding Rosati-Kain Academy was important to continue their legacy.
"It's a fit. Our sisters worked and taught at Rosati for over a hundred years. The heritage is there, the rich diversity just needs to be celebrated. We’ve always been risk-takers and we felt this was just a given. The Holy Spirit was there inspiring all of us but we knew that was something that we really wanted to help Rosati continue," Schmitz admitted.
According to a news release, it said more than 325 members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the School Sisters of Notre Dame served Rosati-Kain for a combined total of more than 2,000 years of service from 1911-2021, including the first nine years without pay.
What's next
This deal is just the first step.
"We are head first in strategic planning, board formation, a search for faculty and staff and solidifying the administration," Forcelledo Goudy explained.
Rosati-Kain Academy has set a fundraising goal of $5 million for operations and another $5 million in endowments to supplement financial aid.
Forcelledo Goudy said they've already raised $1.3 million.
The news release said:
- 79% of students receive some level of tuition assistance
- 39% qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch
- Students come from 52 zip codes - About half (49.5%) live in the City of St. Louis, 43.5% in St. Louis County, and 7% in St. Clair and Madison counties, Ill. and St. Charles County, Mo.
Forcelledo Goudy shared, while times were tough, they never lost faith.
"Our community has just come together to rally around us. We're still working for the continue long-term health for the next 100 years," she said.
More details will be disclosed on Jan. 6, 2023, during a news conference and a celebration at the high school.