Partnership and three elementary schools

On July 24, 2013, the Superintendent of Schools issued this press release.  Please read the release, as my interpretation may not correctly describe what has been done.
Three Bronx parish elementary schools are involved.  Each displays a fresh website, which refers to new management by The Partnership for Inner-City Education.
Immaculate Conception School, 378 East 151 Street, Melrose.  The link states that enrollment from PreK4 to Grade 8 is 491.
Sacred Heart School, 1248 Nelson Avenue, Highbridge.  The link states that enrollment from PreK4 to Grade 8 is 465.
St. Athanasius School, 830 Southern Blvd. The link, obviously by the same designer as the above two, states the enrollment from PreK3 to Grade 8 is 275.
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Three Manhattan schools are also included in the press release.  The non-profit organization, The Partnership for Inner-City Education, will assume financial responsibility for the schools and seems to have pledged $6 million dollars to the six schools.
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I find no mention of grade-by-grade enrollment at these schools.

Sacred Heart, Highbridge

The address of Sacred Heart parish is 1253 Shakespeare Ave., Bronx NY 10452, telephone 718-293-2766. As the above photo shows, the church faces the intersection of Woodycrest Avenue and Shakespeare Avenue.  Bus route Bx11 comes past the door.  Clicking on a photo will enlarge it.
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The address of the parish school is 95 East 168th St., Bronx, NY 10452.
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Please note that the church of St. Francis of Assisi, on Shakespeare Avenue less than a mile north, has been merged with Sacred Heart parish.

  

Regarding the above photo, Sacred Heart provides primary education in the newer building in the center, and middle school education in the older building to the left.  As of January, 2015, the school's website is here and its Facebook page is here.

This door at the back of this photo is to a chapel accommodating about 28 faithful. The large church is to the right. The rectory is to the left.


The Highbridge Community Life Center operated from seven buildings in Highbridge, but in 2014 it suffered from woefully inadequate funding and ceased all or most work. For years, the Brothers teaching at the school lived here at 1252 Nelson Avenue.
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See page 292 of Msgr. Shelley's book for the establishment of Sacred Heart parish in 1875. In 1877, the pastor purchased a wooden church from St. Rose of Lima parish, Cannon Street, Manhattan, and had it disassembled and transported to Highbridge. See page 392 for the visitation by coadjutor archbishop Corrigan on August 15, 1883. The present church dates from 1912. See page 294 for photos. See page 475 for a photo of St. Eugene's chapel on Odgen Avenue. See page 585 for Sacred Heart parishioners affected by fires and destruction in the 1970's. The neighborhood has been rebuilt, and it is alive with residents.
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For decades the Sisters of Mercy and, from 1926, the Brothers of the Christian Schools staffed the school.

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A lengthy and excellent history of Highbridge and Sacred Heart parish is linked HERE.

St Francis of Assisi, Highbridge

The church is in the short block of Shakespeare Avenue between Featherbed Lane (to the left of the photo) and the canyon of the Cross Bronx Expressway (to the right of this photo).
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See page 475 for the 1928 establishment of the parish of Saint Francis of Assisi in a predominantly Jewish part of High Bridge. With rather small territory carved from the thriving Sacred Heart parish, St. Francis could afford neither a school nor a large church. It has recently become part of Sacred Heart parish again. The postal address is Post Office Box 520013. Bronx NY 10452, telephone 718-731-6840. The Sunday received offering at Sacred Heart in January, 2009, was about $2,700 a week, and at St Francis about $1,700.
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Thanks for the comments below.  Please note that there is a time lag of several hours between writing a comment and seeing it appear, because comments are moderated.  On 9.9.2016, a person, apparently frustrated, kept submitting the same long comment repeatedly because he did not see it immediately appear. The time delay helps weed out spam.

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Father John Flynn was pastor of this parish in the mid-1970's. Please see this article in America magazine. The article focuses on his later work at St. Martin of Tours, but does mention his being pastor at St. Francis of Assissi, where we knew him.

Map of Bronx parishes in 1875

See page 291 for a map of parishes in The Bronx in 1875. These are St Raymond, St Jerome, Immaculate Conception (Melrose), Our Lady of Mercy, Sacred Heart, St Augustine, and St. Joseph.