Our Lady of La Salette School in Berkley to Close

Our Lady of La Salette Catholic School and Academy, which has educated generations of Berkley families and hosts many of the community's most beloved traditions, has been slated for closure.

The school will close permanently at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year due to declining enrollment, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.

"It's a difficult time to say the least," an emotional Principal Dan Terbrack said.

The school, which has 73 students, has experienced a 47 percent decrease in enrollment since the 2008-2009 academic year; enrollment peaked at more than 1,000 students in the 1960s, according to the Archdiocese.

“It is with great sadness that we learn of the closing of Our Lady of La Salette School,” said Kimberly Young, interim superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit. “The parish and school community, including the parents, are to be commended for their many efforts over the years and for their strong commitment to Our Lady of La Salette School.”

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit, as well as nationwide, have seen a "steady decline" for the past several decades, Joseph Kohn, director of public relations for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said in a 2011 report about Principal Terbrack's efforts to attract new students.

A "confluence of factors" since Catholic schools' popularity peaked in the 1930s and '40s led to the decline, Kohn said, including:

• Elimination of public funding for private, religious-based schools.
• Fewer people attending church.
• The cost of schools going up as higher-paid college graduates replaced nuns as teachers.
• The recent economic downturn.

Founded in 1943, Our Lady of La Salette serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grades.

"What a great school we have. I am so sad, I can't cry anymore," DeeAnn Fowler Uhlarik posted on the school's Facebook page. "Let's move forward with confidence that this amazing community will stay with us always in our hearts and memories."

Dottie Payne posted that she fears the school's closure will touch off a "snowball reaction."

"You are (going to) bring down the property values of the homes in Berkley. You are going to lose all the family of these children that attend this school," Payne posted. "If their children stay in Catholic school they will go to that church connected to that school, or they may go to a different religious school in which case you may just loss that whole family from the Catholic religion."

Payne noted that without the school, there would be no reason for beloved Berkley traditions including the fall festival, Christmas tree sale, pancake breakfasts and Friday fish fries.

She added: "Someone just wrote and told me she feels like the Church just broke up her family."