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St. Peter’s Regional School in Liberty will remain open and transition from a pre-k through fourth grade school to a pre-k through kindergarten early childhood center beginning this fall.
“Catholic education is a crucial component of the archdiocese’s spiritual and pastoral mission throughout our state; therefore we understood how critical it was to do everything in our power to keep St. Peter’s open for our families,” said Dr. Timothy McNiff, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese.
“After careful consideration, and in light of the persistent demand for pre-k-kindergarten education in the area,” he continued, “we have formulated a plan to maintain St. Peter’s Regional as an early childhood center.”
The school is located at 121 Lincoln Place, in Sullivan County.
He said his office would work with existing and prospective families “to shepherd them through this transition” and will continue to provide guidance for the first through fourth grade families as they move to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Middletown, a distance of approximately 38 miles, and other local schools.
In February, the archdiocese announced that St. Peter’s would cease operations at the end of the current school year. The school has seen a decline in enrollment in recent years and had, consequently, transitioned in 2009 from a full-service elementary school to a pre-k to fourth grade school.
“We understood how crucial it was to do everything in our power to keep St. Peter’s open for our families, especially as the only Catholic school in Sullivan County,” said Nick Iacono, director of communications and public relations for the Office of the Superintendent of Schools. The office, he added, “undertook additional budgetary analysis after the February announcement and was able to craft a plan to maintain the school as an early childhood center.”
The Office of the Superintendent’s Directors of Enrollment will work to help current and prospective families with the transition. Additional information and resources will be shared with them in the coming days.
