St. Christopher school closing in June

 The diocese has announced the June, 2021, closing of St. Christopher School in Baldwin. Please see the media release linked HERE. The pandemic is blamed, but again I suggest that demographic changes (Catholics moving out, non-Catholics moving in) have been at work for more than a decade. The school had only 179 students in September, 2020.

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St. Thomas school closing

 The diocese has announced the June, 2021, closing of the parish school at St. Thomas the Apostle, West Hempstead. Please see the press release linked HERE, but I fear the release will soon disappear from the diocesan website. The enrollment at St. Thomas was 209 in September, 2020, according to the media release. The pandemic is blamed, but I see changing demographics as a major cause of the drop in enrollment. On Long Island, people move and neighborhoods change. In this case, an eruv includes much of the parish, and public school districts #17 and #27 are affected by lower enrollments. For more commentary, please see my post for St. Thomas parish.  

St. Raymond's school closing

 The diocese of Rockville Centre has announced the June, 2021, closing of the school at the parish of St. Raymond of Penafort in East Rockaway. The press release is linked HERE, but I fear the notice and its explanations will disappear. In September, 2020, the school enrollment was 130.  For more commentary, please see my post for St. Raymond parish.

St. William the Abbot, July 3, 2020

Congratulations to the 8th graders of 2020!

One hundred eighty-nine 8th graders graduated from Seaford Middle School.
Thirty-six graduated from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Bellmore.
Sixteen graduated from Maria Regina, Seaford.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

For many more photos of the parish of St. William the Abbot, please click HERE.

CCD Religious Ed enrollments OCD 2019

The Official Catholic Directory for 2019 lists sixty-two parishes in Nassau County and their enrollment statistics for religious ed or Confraternity of  Christian Doctrine programs. Please note that these students are in addition to the students who receive religious instruction in parish schools. Demographics, the nature and history of the parish are all reflected in these numbers, especially the places with lower enrollments. For example, Point Lookout is a community of retirees or seasonal second homes. St. Hedwig is a national parish. In several instances from long ago, a connected pastor would not suffer his parish to be dismembered, or would tolerate only a small portion to be formed as a separate parish. In several instances, people from non-Catholic parts of the world are moving into the neighborhood, as in Great Neck or Elmont. There is often a story behind extraordinary religious ed numbers.
The parish religious education statistics below are sometimes unreliable because they are round numbers or the same report as in previous years.
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14 Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Point Lookout
58 St. Hedwig (Sw. Jadwiga), Floral Park
75 Holy Name, Woodbury
85 St. Vincent de Paul, Elmont
106 St. Hyacinth (Sw. Jacek), Glen Head
120 Our Lady of Fatima, Port Washington
150 St. Edward, Syosset
167 Our Lady of Good Counsel, Inwood
180 Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Roosevelt
211 Sacred Heart, Island Park
255 St. Pius X, Woodbury
256 St. Aloysius, Great Neck
263 Blessed Sacrament, Valley Stream
276 St. Mary, Roslyn
279 St. Mary of the Isle, Long Beach
320 St. Joseph, Hewlett
340 Our Lady of Loreto, Hempstead
349 Corpus Christi, Mineola
350 Holy Spirit, New Hyde Park
350 Our Lady of Lourdes, Malverne
352 St. Rocco, Glen Cove
360 St. Martha, Uniondale
367 St. Ignatius Loyola, Hicksville
420 St. Gertrude, Bayville
436 Our Lady of Peace, Lynbrook
445 St. Patrick, Glen Cove
458 Our Lady of Lourdes, Massapequa Park
475 St. Boniface, Elmont
480 Our Lady of Hope, Carle Place
490 Our Redeemer, Freport
500 Holy Family, Hicksville
525 St. Christopher, Baldwin
536 St. Boniface, Sea Cliff
549 St. Thomas, West Hempstead
550 St. Raymond, East Rockaway
576 Our Lady of Mercy, Hicksville
576 Holy Name of Mary, Valley Stream
598 St. Ignatius Martyr, Long Beach
657 Sacred Heart, North Merrick
714 St. Dominic, Oyster Bay
735 St. Peter of Alcantara, Port Washington
772 Cure of Ars, Merrick
900 St. Anne, Garden City
950 St. Brigid, Westbury
980 St. Bernard, Levittown
984 Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park
1,000 St. Aidan, Williston
1,065 St. Mary, Manhasset
1,151 St. Martin, Bethpage
1,183 St. Catherine of Sienna, Franklin Square
1,301 St. Kilian, Farmingdale
1,362 St. William, Seaford
1,382 St. Raphael, East Meadow
1,400 St. Joseph, Garden city
1,450 St. Barnabas, Bellmore
1,466 Maria Regina, Seaford
1,500 St. James, Seaford
1,501 St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Wantagh
1,550 St. Agnes, Rockville Centre
2,439 St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa

Total in CCD, Nassau County: 40,527
Plus any at Notre Dame, New Hyde Park.
In 2011, I tallied 46,620 in CCD.

Elementary school enrollments, OCD 2019

The 2019 edition of the Official Catholic Directory includes enrollment figures for 24 parishes (or regional schools) of Nassau County.  Some numbers are unreliable because the school strangely reported the exact same enrollment the previous year. I presume that the OCD numbers are from 2018. Also, there is no indication whether each school's enrollment includes pre-Kindergarten.
In increasing order:
223 Our Lady of Mercy, Hicksville
261 St. Dominic elementary, Oyster Bay
262 Our Lady of Lourdes, Malverne
275 St. Peter of Alcantara, Port Washington
280 Holy Name of Mary, Valley Stream 
283 Our Lady of Peace, Lynbrook
286 St. Edward, Syosset
292 St. Thomas, West Hempstead
295 St. Christopher, Baldwin
300? St. Raymond, East Rockaway
303 Holy Family, Hicksville
306 St. Mary, Manhasset
325 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Regional, Bellmore
339 St. Brigid, Westbury
356 St. Joseph, Garden City
365 St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa
368 Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park
377 St. Martin de Porres, Uniondale
400? Maria Regina, Seaford
440 Long Beach Catholic, at St. Ignatius Martyr
454 St . William the Abbot, Seaford
459 St. Aidan, Williston
530 St. Anne, Garden City
627 St. Agnes, Rockville Centre

Total 8,406, plus Notre Dame, New Hyde Park 
In 2010, I tallied 10,038 enrolled in Nassau County parish or regional schools.