patching...
Update: Seen anything interesting around town? Post your photos in our Pics & Clips Gallery. »
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Some St. Anthony Students to Enter Tri-Boro Public Schools

Closure of Butler Catholic school affects enrollment for Butler, Bloomingdale schools.

 

The recent closing of the St. Anthony of Padua School, in Butler, has forced many students and teachers to find new schools.

While many students may be enrolling in another Catholic or private school, some students, already residents of Butler and Bloomindale, are choosing to enroll in the tri-boro's public schools this fall.

As of Aug. 5, five students who previously attended St. Anthony School, were enrolled at the Bloomingdale school district for the upcoming 2012-13 school year, according to Interim Superintendent Frank Buglione.

"This number could go up closer to the beginning of school," Buglione said.

Eleven new students, including the five former St. Anthony students, have enrolled for the fall. The total number of students enrolled for the upcoming school year in Bloomingdale is 619. This is a small increase from the 2011-12 school year, where 608 had started in September, according to Buglione.

In the Butler school district, there was a small increase in enrollment at the Aaron Decker Elementary School, where 379 elementary students are enrolled for the fall, according to Butler Superintendent Mario Cardinale. Cardinale said the district was "expecting to get a few students from St. Anthony's" but did not know the exact number of students.

"None of the St. Anthony students from Kinnelon are going to public school," Kinnelon Public Schools Interim Superintendent Diane DiGiuseppe said. "They are either going to a different Catholic or private school this fall."

DiGiuseppe said that she had looked into whether St. Anthony students were enrolling in the Kinnelon school district as soon as she heard the school was closing after the announcement on June 22.

But in the past, students from other closed private schools have entered the Kinnelon district.

"When Our Lady of the Magnificat [School] closed, several students enrolled," DiGiuseppe said.

The Our Lady of the Magnificat School in Kinnelon closed in the summer of 2010, before the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Related Topics: Back To School, Butler Public Schools, Kinnelon Public Schools, Schools, and St. Anthony of Padua

Leave a comment