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St. Pius V School in the Bronx Being Closed
Diana Santana was making her usual morning rounds at St. Pius V School in the Bronx on Wednesday when the principal, Violeta G. Domingo, pulled her aside to tell her something. As she spoke, Ms. Domingo stumbled over her words, and her voice cracked. Ms. Santana, who has two children at the school, sensed something was wrong.
The principal finally let it out.
“We are closing,” she said. “They are closing us down.”
On Friday, the Archdiocese of New York made public its announcement that St. Pius was one of six schools that would close for good in June because of financial struggles and declining enrollments. St. Pius has 229 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, 75 fewer than it had in 2004, the archdiocese said.
Ms. Santana, who is the public relations officer for St. Pius’s parent-teacher association, said she cried when Ms. Domingo told her the news.
“It’s devastating,” Ms. Santana said on Saturday. “It’s really devastating. There’s no words to explain how I feel right now.”
Ms. Santana said that St. Pius, open for 95 years, is more than a school. It is the hub of a close-knit community in the mostly Hispanic Mott Haven section of the Bronx, linking generations. Ms. Santana graduated from St. Pius in 1971. Three of her children have graduated from the school, and she now has twin daughters there in seventh grade, a grandson in second grade and a granddaughter in first grade.
“I feel like we’re being robbed out of something we need in this community,” Ms. Santana said. “It’s a family thing.”
Most St. Pius students live within walking distance and come from poor backgrounds, Ms. Santana said. Everyone, teachers, parents and students, knows one another, she said.
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