Coalition to save Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset: 'Mercy girls don't quit'

In sometimes teary-eyed appeals at a public meeting late Tuesday, leaders of an effort to keep a Syosset all-girls Catholic high school open urged an order of nuns to reverse its decision to shutter the nearly century-old institution.

They also vowed to tap into anger and frustration over plans to close Our Lady of Mercy Academy in June by launching a $20 million fundraising effort to keep the school open and run it as an independent Catholic school.

Jeanette Miller, president of the OLMA Preservation Coalition, teared up at the Woodbury Jewish Center as she acknowledged that it may be too late to keep the school open for the fall. But she said the coalition is in the struggle for the long haul.

“Mercy girls don't quit,” Miller said at the meeting, which was called to share details of the coalition's plan. “Everything that we will be discussing this evening is for a sustainable and re-imagined Mercy that would remain a vital force in educating young women for the next 95 years.”

The Sisters of Mercy announced in early January that the school would close in June because of declining enrollment. On Tuesday, the nuns said they had “no plans” to free up the property “to run any independent school on the site.”

Scenarios outlined

Miller and other leaders outlined several scenarios in which the school could continue, including having a team of laypeople take it over. They insisted their proposal could serve as a model throughout the region and beyond as the number of priests, brothers and religious sisters decline sharply.

“Our first goal and our main concern is to get the school up and running, new administration, new leadership, and continue the message of the Sisters of Mercy,” Dawn Cerrone, who stepped down as the school’s acting athletic director to work full time on keeping it open, said before the meeting.

The announcement last month triggered a wave of sadness, anger and confusion among students, teachers like Cerrone, and a loyal alumnae base. If the school closes permanently, Long Island will be left with only one all-girls Catholic high school, Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead.

Cerrone and other members of the coalition said laypeople assuming operations has happened before. They cited Holy Cross Preparatory Academy in Delran, New Jersey, which was closed by the church but then reopened in 2018 under the leadership of laypeople as an independent Catholic school. Enrollment has since gone up by 20%, from 250 to 300 students, said David Moffa, the school’s principal.

No change of plans

The Sisters of Mercy said in a statement Tuesday that they do not expect to reverse their decision.

“Since announcing Our Lady of Mercy Academy’s closure, we have witnessed an outpouring of love and support from members of the local community who have a deep love and respect for OLMA and the Sisters of Mercy,” said Sister Lisa Griffith, a spokeswoman for the order. “It is clear how many lives Mercy has changed and the positive impact it has had both on students and the Syosset and Long Island communities.”

She continued: “Although OLMA will no longer be providing Catholic education on the site, there are Sisters of Mercy who live on the campus and other sponsored ministries that are carried out on the property. There are no plans to sell, lease, or repurpose the land.

“While we appreciate the commitment of the alumnae to carry on the values and legacy of the Sisters of Mercy, we are unable to provide the land or the facilities to run any independent school on the site.”

One former academy teacher, Jenn Yatco, told those gathered Tuesday night that she was imploring the nuns to “return to the table and work with the OLMA Preservation Coalition on a viable path forward.” 

Leaders of the coalition said all-girls Catholic schools aim to advance empowerment for girls, and having only one such campus on Long Island would be a major loss.

Years ago, “being a smart woman was something that you hid,” Miller said, “and now it’s something that is celebrated.”

Leaders optimistic

The leaders said they believe they can raise the money to keep the academy going and potentially sign a lease, for instance, with the Sisters of Mercy, especially given the strength, success and passion of its alumnae base and supporters.

They estimated that contributions from the school community could raise as much as $6 million of the $20 million goal within a year.

“There is something about OLMA that needs to perpetuate forever for young girls,” Cerrone said. “It’s about watching them become strong, confident, empowered, brave young women at the end of their four years.”

A Change.org petition calling for the school to stay open has garnered nearly 8,300 signatures.

Leaders said a transition to a new group using the school building could be relatively seamless since the Sisters of Mercy already have a similar “tenant-landlord” arrangement with the board currently running the school.

They also outlined other possible solutions, including having the Diocese of Rockville Centre, a Catholic parish, or other religious orders of priests, brothers, or sisters form a partnership with them. The diocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the group's plan.

The nuns opened the school in 1928 on a bucolic 96-acre property. Enrollment fell to as little as 37 students in this year’s freshman class, though parents questioned how that could happen since other Catholic high schools on Long Island are either stable or thriving.

Catholic school model

Backers believe their plan to take over the school could serve as a model as Catholic schools continue to close. The number of Catholic grammar and high schools in New York State has dropped from a high of about 1,500 in the 1960s to about 400 in 2024, according to James Cultrara, executive secretary of the NYS Council of Catholic School Superintendents.

Nationally, the drop has also been precipitous. Between 1970 and 2022, the number of Catholic elementary schools fell by half, from 9,366 to 4,751, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The student enrollment loss was even worse — about two-thirds — going from 3.4 million to 1.2 million.

The number of high schools in the same period dropped from 1,986 to 1,174, with student enrollment dropping by half, from about 1 million to 527,912. 

It is all partly linked to the decline of clergy who for decades worked at the schools and helped keep tuition costs down, experts said. The number of religious sisters in the United States dropped from 178,740 to 36,321 between 1965 and 2022, according to the Georgetown center.

Miller said it is clear laypeople must step in to keep Catholic schools like Mercy Academy alive.

“They just don’t have the religious people entering the orders” to run the schools, she said. “So let us be that model of success. Let the laypeople preserve your legacy.”