St. Clement's is where Jaco broke his wrist during a football game. That was a game changer.
The adjoining church is where he was an altar boy, and where his funeral mass was held.
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sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/sfl-flbschools0123pnjan23,0,5988237.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Miami Archdiocese to close six schools
By Akilah Johnson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
January 23, 2009
Decades of history and tradition will end when six South Florida Catholic elementary schools close because of shrinking budgets, rising expenses and declining enrollment.
When summer begins, St. Clement's School in Wilton Manors and St. Stephen's School in Miramar, both open since the 1950s, will permanently shut their doors, the Archdiocese of Miami announced Thursday. Four Catholic campuses in Miami-Dade County also will close.
Archbishop John Favalora told parish priests in November that the archdiocese could no longer afford to financially support 15 struggling schools, said archdiocese spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta. Since 2004, the archdiocese has spent about $10 million on financially strapped schools.
"We're not immune to the economic crisis in the country," Agosta said, adding that the archdiocese is funded through stock market investments, donations and endowments. The 889 students at closing schools can transfer to neighboring Catholic campuses, where the archdiocese has encouraged pastors to help ease the transition.
"It's like a legacy dying," said Annemarie Santamarina, who graduated from St. Clement's, as did her mother, husband and son. Her daughter, Tiffany, a seventh-grader, won't get to carry on that tradition, but will attend St. Ambrose next year.
The Archdiocese of Miami educates about 23,000 students in 59 schools from Deerfield Beach to Key West. Parents pay $3,500 to $8,500 a year.
Other schools set to close are Corpus Christi and St. Francis Xavier in Miami; Our Lady of Divine Providence in Sweetwater; and Sacred Heart in Homestead.
The five-county Diocese of Palm Beach has no plans to close any of its 17 schools, spokeswoman Alexis Walkenstein said. Bishop Gerald Barbarito appointed a task force including parents, educators and financial specialists last summer to examine the schools' finances, Walkenstein said.
Many private and parochial schools throughout the county are suffering financial woes and low enrollment. Catholic schools also are closing in areas such as Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
In Florida, private school enrollment has dropped in the past five years from 381,000 to about 335,000 students, according to the state Department of Education. The Archdiocese of Miami saw enrollment drop last year by 1,000 students, or 3 percent.
Staff Writers Lois Solomon and Rachel Hatzipanagos contributed to this report.
Akilah Johnson can be reached at akjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4527.
