Students, parents protest after Bronx Catholic girls school set to close

St. Raymond School for Girls has taught students in The Bronx since 1960, but this school year could be its last. The Church of St. Raymond asked the Archdiocese of New York for permission to close the school at the end of the 2026-27 school year, to the dismay of students and their families.

Community members joined parents and students outside of the school on Tuesday to protest the closure.  

The Archdiocese says that St. Raymond is a parish school, meaning it was established and is run by its own parish. CBS New York reached out to St. Raymond Parish but did not hear back at the time of publication. Father James Cruz has lead St. Raymond since 2016.

"St. Raymond Academy for Girls operates under a governance model in which the pastor has the authority and responsibility to make decisions he believes are in the best interests of the parish and school community," said a representative of the Schools Office within the Archdiocese. "After prayerful discernment and careful consideration, the parish made this decision because it can no longer sustain the school at its current enrollment, which remains at approximately half capacity."

Female students at St. Raymond say they feel they are being treated as less than their male counterparts at St. Raymond High School for Boys, which has also reported dwindling enrollment, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 

This is not the first time a girls Catholic school has been at the threat of closure in the borough: in 2025, students and alumni—including actress and singer Jennifer Lopez—came together to save Preston High School from closing.

"Why separate the girls and the boys school? Why? Why not bring us together? Why not make the school coed?" asked junior, Shayleen. If St. Raymond does close, she will spend her senior year at a new school.  

"The boys school is also under enrollment, and they're in a steady decline." added Destini, a senior. "We also are the cheapest Catholic school out there. So, if you want to outreach with Catholic faith, why would you close the cheapest school? You're making it less affordable for people."

Affordability is on the minds of parents as well. One mother says the church should have told parents about the possibility of a closure sooner, so that they could have worked together to find a solution.

"These young ladies have built their family already ... I feel [St. Raymond] should have had a meeting where they called the parents together, and we should have been told first." said Mercedez Smith who is the mom of a sophomore. Smith is not sure where her daughter will be next fall. 

The Church of St. Raymond says that students who finish out this school year at SRA will be offered a partial, parish-funded scholarship of $3,000 to attend either the Academy of Mount St. Ursula or St. Catharine Academy in The Bronx. Both are all girls schools.

Ellen Mihovics runs the Elizabeth Seton Women's Center in The Bronx, which is sponsored by the school's founders, Sisters of Charity of New York. The center regularly meets with students to provide support through things like spiritual counseling free SAT prep. She says young women need close-knit communities like St. Raymond.

"Finances are real and no one is disputing that, but I feel there was another solution that I do not feel was thoroughly investigated and considered. The community deserves at least a some kind of town hall or meeting where everyone can express things and everyone can ask questions," said Mihovics. "Catholic schools have declined and, as church attendance has declined and organized religion in general, I just think it's as important as ever to not send a message that females didn't matter in this case."

The Bronx Borough President and other elected officials like city councilwoman Amanda Farías weighed in on social media, saying in part: "We are deeply frustrated by the lack of communication with local elected officials before this announcement. Notifying our offices on the day the decision was made public, without prior conversations or an opportunity to understand the rationale and explore potential solutions, is unacceptable."

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