July 2020
Dear Parishioners of Sacred Heart:
It is with great sadness that I must inform you that as of July 9th, 2020 our precious school is now closed. We received word from His Eminence Cardinal Dolan that our doors are closed due to the many financial difficulties which affect the ability for Catholic Schools to flourish currently, along with the immense impact of the CoVid- 19 virus on us all.
For 109 years our school has been a part of the fabric of our community. In September of 1910 the doors opened, how sad to think that in September of 2020 the usual excitement and joy of a new school year will not occur.
The school was privileged to educate some of the founding members of our village and surrounding area. Below is an excerpt from the school’s historical overview produced for their 100th year celebration journal:
“The School opened in 1910 with fifty pupils taught by three Sisters of Charity from Convent Station in New Jersey, and in 1911 Sacred Heart School had its first graduating Class. The graduates were Daniel Oldfield, Mabel Oldfield, Margaret Casey, Mary Courtney, and Rose Rothhaupt. In 1913 the Sisters of St. Dominic from Sparkill, New York took over the teaching in the Parochial School. The Sparkill Dominicans taught at Sacred Heart School for many years and were then followed by the Blauvelt Dominicans and a number of lay teachers through the rest of the century. 2008 was the last year that Religious Sisters taught in the school. “
From its humble beginnings with only 50 students to almost 500 students in its heyday and now to the closing of its doors, Sacred Heart School had been a place that educated the whole child. Reading, writing, arithmetic yes, but also and most importantly our Faith.
We pray that all those who graduated from our school or who even spent just a few years with them came away with a love of our Lord and an education that has been a corner stone in their journey through this life. God Bless Sacred Heart School!
To end, I wish to express my great thanks, and appreciation and of course my great sorrow in having to say goodbye to not only Mrs. Kathleen Grande our principal, but the loving, caring staff of Sacred Heart School. May the good Lord be with you all and bless you for your goods works here at Sacred Heart and for all your years of service in His name.
In His Grace,
Fr. J. Michael Rafferty, OAR Pastor