End of partnership with some elementary schools

 The administration of the "Partnership Schools" will be transferred back to the Archdiocese. This article explains much of what I did not know.

Priest assignments effective July 1, 2024

The Vicar for the Clergy has announced priest assignments effective July 1, 2024. The names and parishes may be seen at this link.

I know none of the men, but these are the Bronx parishes receiving new pastors or administrators. "Administrator" seems to be a fill-in job.

St. Margaret & St. Gabriel

Our Lady of Mercy

St. Margaret Mary

St. Anthony of Padua

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Parochical Vicars or assistants

St. Margaret -St. Gabriel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

St. Frances de Chantal

Fordham Prep

 On its website, Fordham Prep presents a clear description of where the students live.  Please see

https://www.fordhamprep.org/about/facts-on-fordham-prep

St. Simon Stock school to close

 News 12

This elementary school is at 2195 Valentine Avenue.

The pastor's three-page letter is linked HERE.

Visitation church, sold and demolished

 Visitation church on Van Cortlandt Park South was sold and demolished in 2023, according to this article in the Riverdale Press. 

https://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/van-cortlandt-church-property-fetches-29-million,80028

For photos of the now-demolished buildings, please see this link.

Moving the chancery in 2025

Linked below is a message from Cardinal Timothy Dolan about moving the archdiocesan offices now at 1011 First Avenue to an office building at 488 Madison Avenue, close to the cathedral and the Cardinal's residence. Cathedral High School for Girls has already moved to 116 East 97th Street, behind the church of St. Francis de Sales. The Cardinal's announcement says nothing about the parish church of  Saint John the Evangelist, which has been inside the East 55th Street portion of 1011 First Avenue since about 1973. 

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Both 1011 First Avenue and 488 Madison Avenue are huge. I presume that the archdiocese will need less space, maybe a floor or two.  As the Look Building, 488 Madison was built in 1949 with 447,000 square feet on 23 stories. 1011 First Avenue has 20 stories and 398,214 square feet. I count 85 archdiocesan departments headquartered at 1011 First Avenue

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In 1948, the archdiocese purchased three of the four Villard houses at at 455 Madison Avenue for a chancery. As an 8th grader in the fall  of 1949, I got dressed there as an imitation Columban Father to participate in Mission Sunday. We then filed along East 50th Street, boy "missionaries" next to faux religious sisters in various child-size habits, as my Dad took at least one photo, now lost. It was the Religious of Jesus and Mary (RJM) from Kingsbridge who provided the cassock I wore. A girl classmate was in a RJM imitation habit. Twenty years later, some religious sisters, looking for a dispensation from vows, went to the Villard House for a required interview with a cleric. The archdiocese leased the Villard House property when it built 1011 First Avenue about 1973. The Villard House and its tall new building have had several renters or owners and different hotel names over the past fifty years. 

https://thegoodnewsroom.org/cardinal-dolan-announces-relocation-of-new-york-catholic-center/

St. Ann, Bainbridge Avenue

 The Norwood News of  9.14.2023.

Montefiore Hospital owns the former school of St. Ann on Bainbridge Avenue. It has now leased the school to a non-profit middle school. Please see the article linked below. Because the parish never got around to building a church, what is now a school gym was for years fitted out as a church.

https://www.norwoodnews.org/norwood-charter-middle-school-opens-at-former-st-ann-site/

Test for Admission to Catholic High Schools

 The Archdiocese of New York (seven counties), the Diocese of Brooklyn (two counties), and the Diocese of Rockville Centre (two counties) generally require the test offered on the website https://tachsinfo.com/

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The test is taken by computer at home. It costs $71. The student selects three high schools to which the testing company will send results. The test is apparently scheduled for early November, 2023. Apparently there is some way the downloaded program knows that is is the registered eighth grade student and not a learned grandma answering the test questions.

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The abbreviated name for the test is TACHS. Much more information is at https://tachsinfo.com/

Leasing space at St. Brendan's school

 The NYC Board of Education has signed up with St. Brendan's parish to lease its school part-time for a charter school.  The parish will be able to use it for religious education, apparently on weekends. Please see the Norwood News article linked HERE.

Twenty-four Catholic elementary schools in The Bronx

 The February 15, 2023, news of upcoming closures was severe, but a list of parish schools still providing elementary education shows strength. I will attempt to list by geography the twenty-four Catholic elementary schools of The Bronx open in September. If readers find errors, I will edit this post.

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Schools north of Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway:
St. Margaret of Cortona, West 260 St., Riverdale
St. Barnabas, East 241 St., Woodlawn.
St. Francis of Assisi, Baychester Ave., Wakefield.
St. Philip Neri, Grand Concourse and East 202 St.
Our Lady of Refuge, East 196th St., Fordham.
Holy Rosary, Arnow Ave., East Gun Hill Rd.
Our Lady of Grace, Bronxwood Ave.
St. Lucy, Mace Ave.
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Schools south of Fordham Road and to the east.
St. Simon Stock, Valentine Ave., East 182 St. Will close in June, 2024.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Bathgate Ave., East 188 St.
St. Clare of Assisi and St. Francis Xavier, 1911 Hone Ave., Morris Park, near the corner of Rhinelander Avenue. In other words, the merged schools will be at St. Clare's. This explanation comes from the St. Francis Xavier website.
Villa Maria Academy, Pelham Bay.
St. Theresa, Pelham Bay.
St. Benedict, Throggs Neck.
St  Frances de Chantal, Throggs Neck.
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Schools south of Tremont Avenue:
Sacred Heart, Highbridge.
Christ the King, Grand Concourse, below 170 St.
St. John Chrysostom, Hoe Ave. near East 166 St.
St. Raymond, East Tremont Ave.
St. Helena, Benedict Ave., Parkchester.
Holy Cross, Soundview
St. Athanasius, Southern Boulevard
St. Anselm, Tinton Ave., near East 152 St., Morrisania
Immaculate Conception, East 151 St., Melrose.

Most of the above websites followed an archdiocesan template, but there seems to be inconsistency about how pre-K and UPK enrollments are included. High enrollment numbers may be bloated by high numbers in pre-K. More important for the survival are the grade-by-grade numbers, especially grades 2 to 8. The websites fail to disclose these numbers, just as many websites ignore tuition rates.

New address for donations to Catholic Relief Services

 Mailed donations to Catholic Relief Services now go to a processing firm in the small city of Harlan, Iowa. Instead of Baltimore, the donation address is now Catholic Relief Services, Post Office Box 5202, Harlan, Iowa 51593-0702. This is a  Hearst-owned corporation that handles incoming payments for many magazines and non-profit organizations.