Syosset's Our Lady of Mercy Academy will close

Sad to report. but Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset will close permanently at the end of June. Please see news reports in Newsday of 1.9.2024 and various parts of the school's website https://olma.org/about/closure-faq/

The cause of the closure is low enrollment. According to Newsday, peak enrollment of 525 was attained in the 1970's. This year's freshmen number 37. I note that Syosset's population was largely Jewish, now becoming more Asian. To the north, St. Dominic's offered a Catholic high school. To the south, Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville draws numbers.

I tend to trust James Conant's 1959 opinion that a high school should have at least 100 graduates per year in order to offer a broad curriculum.

St. Edward Confessor, Syosset

St. Edward Confessor stands in front of his new church at 205 Jackson Avenue, Syosset NY 11791.  The parish telephone number is 516-921-8030.  The school entrance is around the corner at 2 Teibrook Avenue, telephone 516-921-7767.  The buildings are about a half-mile south of the Syosset train station, via Jackson Avenue.
----
Edward, who became King of England, lived from 1003 to 1066.  The title "Confessor" means that he confessed the Faith, not that he heard confessions.  He was not a priest.  It seems that there are two other parishes in Nassau County named for saintly monarchs: St. Hedwig and St. Ladislaus.

The church, seen here from Jackson Avenue, is many-sided.  The main entrance and foyer are at the left of this photo.  The church faces a large parking lot surrounded by the parish buildings and a green ballfield. 

An excellent article in the Long Island Catholic is linked here.

The school website is linked here.  The parish website, out of service as I type, is listed in the bulletin as www.st-edwards.org  On 5.28.2013, Newsday reported that the school enrollment is 218.

The quotation seems to be from a 1937 encyclical, "Divini Redemptoris."

Oyster Bay deanery

The diocese of Rockville Centre has grouped the parishes of Nassau County into seven deaneries.  The Oyster Bay deanery includes the following eleven parishes, listed in order of foundation:
1856 -- St. Patrick, Glen Cove
1871 -- St. Mary, Roslyn
1894 -- St. Dominic, Oyster Bay
1898 -- St. Boniface Martyr, Sea Cliff
1909 -- St. Hyacinth, Glen Head
1937 -- St. Rocco, Glen Cove
1952 -- St. Edward Confessor, Syosset
1955 -- St. Pius X, Plainview
1959 -- St. Gertrude, Bayville
1962 -- Holy Name of Jesus, Woodbury
1962 -- St. Paul the Apostle, Brookville
-----
Five of the above parishes (St. Patrick, St. Rocco, St. Boniface Martyr, St. Hyacinth, and St. Mary, Roslyn) sponsor All Saints Regional Catholic elementary school.  St. Dominic parish offers both an elementary school and a high school.   St. Edward's parish elementary school is linked here.  St. Pius X supports St. John Baptist de La Salle Regional Catholic Elementary School in Farmingdale, but the diocese has announced the closure of this school in June, 2012.