All Hallows, a Catholic high school of 320 students at East 164th Street and Grand Concourse, is on the financial brink, citing a decline in charitable giving, local population loss and increased costs of maintaining the 95-year-old building.
President Ron Schutté said in a fundraising flyer that the school, which has operated for 116 years, is now facing a “critical period.” The school aims to raise $2.5 million by Jan. 15 and has already raised approximately $750,000.
The school plans to divide the funds between five pillars, which include tuition assistance and scholarships, coeducation, faculty and student support, Catholic identity and general operations.
“I won’t mince words; the future of our beloved school hangs in no small part on your generosity,” Schutté said.
All Hallows already made a major change this year in an effort to recruit more students, going co-ed with plans of absorbing former students from St. Barnabas, a now-shuttered girls’ high school in Yonkers. All Hallows now has 20 female students and is expecting to add more, and projected freshman enrollment numbers look strong, according to information from the school.
But at the same time, All Hallows has lost 70 students who moved out of New York amid a decline in Bronx population. The borough has seen a 6.3% population loss in the post-pandemic years, the highest rate among the five boroughs, according to a December 2023 report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The school also pointed to a drop in global charitable giving or “donor fatigue.” Brian McGinley, the school’s vice president for advancement, told the Bronx Times that All Hallows has actually had more donors, although the total donated is less.
Catholic schools closing
All Hallows is not the only struggling Catholic school, as evidenced by a wave of recent wave of closures in New York City and the surrounding suburbs. In the past year alone, St. Simon Stock School in Fordham Heights closed at the end of last school year, as did St. Matthias Catholic Academy in Ridgewood, Queens; St. Catherine of Genoa-St. Thérèse of Lisieux in East Flatbush, Brooklyn; Salve Regina Catholic Academy in East New York, Brooklyn; and Transfiguration School in Tarrytown, Westchester County.
Tuition at All Hallows is $7,200 per year, plus an annual comprehensive fee of $1,000 ($1,200 for seniors) to cover a Chromebook, gym uniform, school sweater, yearbook and more. These costs on par or at least somewhat lower than at other prominent Bronx Catholic high schools, such as Cardinal Hayes (base tuition $7,700, not including fees) and Cardinal Spellman ($10,900).
Many students pay less than full tuition, according to a fact sheet provided McGinley, which also said the school is private, not Archdiocesan, and is therefore not financially supported by the Archdiocese of New York.
The school said that while a “perfect storm” of “multiple developments beyond [its] control” has created an urgent financial need, its positive results are well-proven. All of its 2024 seniors were accepted into four-year colleges and were collectively awarded $32 million in scholarships, according to the campaign brochure.
“We believe that the [fundraising] goal, while substantial, is attainable when one considers the positive role All Hallows has played in so many lives.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
