Holy Family School in Covington announces closure amid teacher shortage, hopes to reopen in future

BY KAITLIN GEBBY | LINK nky PRINT EDITOR & EDUCATION REPORTER

Holy Family School will not reopen this school year.

In a message to families posted on its website, the Diocese of Covington announced that the Catholic school is suspending its operations for the 2023-24 school year in a move “made necessary by a shortage of teachers.”

Located on East 16th Street in Covington, the school is home to 42 students and is one of a handful of Catholic schools in the urban core, Diocese of Covington Communications Director Laura Keener said.

Holy Family School was due to welcome students back for their first day on Aug. 16. Now, those 42 students have the option of being placed in one of the five K-8 Catholic schools in the urban core or taking their tuition to public schools. Ultimately, the choice lies with the parents, Keener said.

Superintendent Kendra McGuire explained how Holy Family came to this decision in a letter to families.

“As we approached the end of July, we had zero applicants and our efforts to reach out to prospective teachers had not been successful,” McGuire wrote.

She said they were left with limited options and weighed delaying the start of the school year to allow for additional search time, but they realized it would be more challenging to find educators once school was back in session across the region.

In a social media post shared on July 26, the school said it was seeking a middle school math, science and religion teacher; a fulltime third- and fourth-grade teacher; and a part-time physical education teacher.

Originally opening as St. Benedict School, the institution has provided education to students in Northern Kentucky for more than 100 years. The closure for the 2023-24 school year isn’t a permanent halt to operations, though.

In McGuire’s letter to families, she said, “It is our hope as we go through the next year that we can work to improve the staffing situation and reopen” in the future.

“While we are saddened to suspend school operations at Holy Family, we are trusting in God’s plans for the future,” McGuire said.