Donors save 100-year-old Catholic school in Cicero from closure

CICERO, Ill. - St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero has been saved from closure this summer after donors came forward to keep the school open.

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Wednesday that St. Frances will stay open for at least the next five years after groups and individuals pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars — though the exact figure will depend on enrollment per year.

In January, the Archdiocese of Chicago said St. Frances and St. Odilo in Berwyn would shut down at the end of the school year. The archdiocese blamed the closures on the end of the state scholarship program Invest in Kids, which offered income tax credits to taxpayers who donated to scholarship funds that sent lower-income students to private schools. St. Odilo is still projected to close.

"Unfortunately, the end of the program hurts the most low-income kids because that’s who’s eligible for the scholarship," said Greg Richmond, superintendent of Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools.

The scholarship program, which partly or fully covered tuition for low-income students, supported 104 of 169 students at St. Frances of Rome. Of the 153 schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago’s system, 150 schools had at least one student that was part of the Invest in Kids program, Richmond said.

Tuition is about $7,000 per year, with $1,000 assistance from St. Frances of Rome’s parish community, according to the school’s website.

"It’s very powerful to see so many people step forward to support a school like this because they know how important Catholic schools are in the Chicago area," Richmond said.

"St. Frances of Rome School has been an important part of the fabric of the Cicero community for 100 years," said St. Frances of Rome School Principal Phil Jackson in a statement. "We’re moved by the overwhelming generosity of Big Shoulders Fund and other donors to keep our school open. Joining the Big Shoulders community, St. Frances of Rome is ready to embark on its next 100 years."

Anonymous donors through Big Shoulders Fund committed $400,000, the archdiocese and the parish of St. Frances of Rome will donate money in the "low six figures" depending on need, and St. Anne Parish in Barrington will donate about $50,000 per year. Big Shoulders Fund is a nonprofit based in Chicago that provides scholarships, operates grants and helps keep schools open, mostly Catholic schools on the South and West Sides of the city.

Rebecca Lindsay-Ryan, chief schools officer of Big Shoulders Fund, said the community was committed to finding a way to keep the school open, despite a lack of financial resources.

"There was a rich commitment from the community to really keep the school rooted there and together," she said.

Big Shoulders Fund will provide administrative support, leadership development, academic training and business advice to the school to help it find a "more sustainable path forward," Lindsay-Ryan said.

Historically, Catholic schools have been in Chicago since 1840, Richmond pointed out, educating millions of children in the city and its suburbs. Many Chicagoans went to Catholic schools or sent their kids to Catholic schools, even if they weren’t Catholic, he said.

"Schools are part of communities," Richmond said. "So that’s meaningful to people in a way that goes beyond the kids that are currently there."