All Hallows will graduate its last class at the conclusion of the 2024/2025 academic year.

Press Release from the All Hallows Board of Trustees For Immediate Release Friday, January 17, 2025 A more than century old Catholic educational institution in the South Bronx, just blocks from Yankee Stadium, will graduate its last class at the conclusion of the 2024/2025 academic year.

All Hallows High School, founded in 1909 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, will permanently close its doors on June 30, 2025, the school’s Board of Trustees announced today, citing decades of financial distress and an aging building in need of systemic rehabilitation and upgrades among the reasons for closing the school. The Archdiocese of New York has been informed of this decision.

Families of students, and members of the faculty and staff, were notified yesterday of the “painful, but necessary” decision to close the 115-year-old college preparatory school on East 164th Street. All Hallows is the first, and oldest, educational institution that the Christian Brothers established in the United States.

Aware of the financial fragility of the physical operations of the school, the All Hallows Board of Trustees and Administration – and the Board of Directors and Sponsor Council, whose members are mostly laypersons with backgrounds in education, finance, construction, and other professions – had been engaged over the past three years in intensive efforts of exploring numerous possibilities and scenarios for a plan that would ensure the school’s future viability and sustainability.

But the Trustees reached the unanimous conclusion that the school could not promise the current first, second and third-year students, let alone a new incoming class, completion of their four-year education at All Hallows.

Ceasing operations has been a looming possibility for quite some time, according to officials, who were able to avert this inevitable fate for many years through subsidized funding from the Christian Brothers and the generosity of individual benefactors and All Hallows Foundation endowments, which provide scholarships and underwrite tuition costs.

The decision, officials say, was based on several factors: • Seven-figure operating deficit: The current overall operating deficit of $1.7 million is projected to exceed $2 million by June 2025.

• An aging building in need of systemic upgrades and rehabilitation: The nearly 100-year-old school building would require a complete overhaul of its major systems – electrical, plumbing and roofing – and other rehabilitation and upgrades to its infrastructure, as well as modernization of major facilities such as the gymnasium, cafeteria, classrooms and science labs.

• Constantly increasing education costs per student: The education costs per student at All Hallows is $11,000, far more than the current annual tuition of $7,500 per student. With All Hallows located in one of the most income-insecure congressional districts in the country, many families are unable to support even this significantly discounted tuition, according to officials, who have long addressed the financial needs of families through scholarship and other financial assistance to help them provide their children with an All Hallows education.

• Plummeting student enrollment: There has been a continuous and significant decline in student enrollment – especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, during which many families relocated due to loss of employment. All Hallows has experienced a more than one-third decline in enrollment over the past six years. While the recent innovation of changing the school from an all-boys to a co-ed institution resulted in new enrollees, the current student population of 325 remains far below the robust number of 514 in 2018.

• Decrease in financial support: There has been a significant fall-off in financial support due to recent years of economic uncertainty and downturn; fundraising efforts were curtailed by the pandemic and never recovered, and an older generation of benefactors has thinned out.

Officials are hopeful that by making the announcement well in advance of the next academic session, families with children in the 9th, 10th and 11th grades will have ample time to explore enrollment in other Catholic schools in the New York Archdiocese – and that this will offer the least disruptive and most seamless path to reset and plan their future. Over the several months remaining in the current academic year, in addition to providing the continuity of the high-quality Catholic education rooted in the tradition and values of the Christian Brothers and the Congregation’s founder Blessed Edmund Rice, all school personnel – including the staff of the Administration, Advancement, Guidance and Admissions offices – will provide families and students with support and resources to help navigate the enrollment application process for other schools.

The timing of the announcement also provides school administrators, faculty and staff with the ability to identify and pursue future employment options for the 2025/26 academic year.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce this painful and difficult, but necessary and practical, decision,” said Brother Patrick Moffett, CFC, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “This decision came after much frank discussion and measured and prayerful deliberation. We consulted with education and finance professionals and tapped the talent and expertise of those who serve on the All Hallows Board of Directors and Sponsor Council. We continually and collaboratively explored and discussed a number of possibilities to remain operational, but none of them provided a financially viable pathway. The Trustees came to the conclusion that closing the school is the only way forward for the good of our current student population and school personnel.”

Sister Mary Grace Walsh, ACSJ, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York, said, “All Hallows High School has been a beacon of faith, excellence, and opportunity in the Bronx for over a century, shaped by the unwavering commitment of the Congregation of Christian Brothers to Blessed Edmund Rice's mission of service, faith, and education. While the decision to close this remarkable institution is deeply saddening, we honor its legacy of cultivating generations of faith-filled leaders who have positively impacted our communities and world.

Throughout the transition, the Superintendent of Schools Office in the Archdiocese of New York is committed to supporting impacted students and families by helping them find new educational homes within our network of Catholic high schools. We stand ready to welcome these students into our broader Catholic school family, where they will have the opportunity to continue to grow in faith, knowledge, and character.”

The rich history of All Hallows, and the standard of academic excellence and faith development that has produced leaders in finance, technology, law, media, education, religious vocation, business and other professions, made this decision difficult and emotional for everyone involved, according to Br. Moffett. However, the economic realities of entering the fall semester with a major deficit, compounded by the financial inability to rehabilitate and upgrade the building’s aging systems and infrastructure, made the decision crystal clear.

Br. Moffett said that while it is natural for the All Hallows family and broader South Bronx community to grieve the loss of this iconic institution, it’s also a time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of the students who have traveled the school’s hallowed halls and occupied its classrooms, as well as all those who taught with passion and dedication, and those who have generously supported All Hallows.

Mindful of the deep feelings of the All Hallows community, Br. Moffett concluded his message with a prayer: “Let us transform our sadness and disappointment into prayerful thanksgiving for the more than a century of excellent Catholic education in the spirit of Blessed Edmund Rice and the Christian Brothers.” #