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Rice High School, the private Catholic college-preparatory school for boys in Central Harlem, will close its doors permanently at the end of the academic year in June, the school’s board of trustees announced May 23.
The trustees acted on the recommendation of the school’s board of directors, which voted to cease operations due to a “confluence of economic factors.”
Rice, founded in 1938 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, has graduated more than 10,000 students during its nearly three-quarters of a century. Known for its excellence in academics as well as its superb basketball program, the school has produced such basketball stars as Kemba Walker, who led the University of Connecticut to a national NCAA crown this spring.
School officials have scheduled meetings with the families of current students to help identify alternate Catholic schools and assist in the enrollment process before the 2011-12 school year begins in September, the trustees’ announcement said.
“Economic realities have forced this painful, difficult and emotional decision,” the trustees said.
“Rice High School has been operating at a cumulative budget deficit of millions of dollars for over a decade. The school hung on as long as it could to continue fulfilling its core mission of educating young men,” they said.
Compounding the problem was a declining enrollment, which had plummeted 44 percent since 2003, resulting in a current student population at approximately half of the school’s capacity of 400.
Also, donations from school benefactors have decreased, reflecting the experience of all nonprofit entities in the current economic environment.
The trustees’ statement said, “Without the necessary student enrollment, tuition revenue and annual donations—coupled with staggering operational costs and crippling repair expenses associated with an aging building—Rice High School no longer has the financial ability to continue operations.”
Efforts by the board of directors to identify the financial resources necessary to ensure the school’s long-term viability were unsuccessful, which led to its recommendation to close.
Rice High School is located at 74 W. 124th St.
