Cathedral Catholic Academy closing

Low enrollment causes school to shutter its doors in June after 80 years at its downtown location

Story and photo By Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz
Hawaii Catholic Herald

After eight decades of providing Catholic education in downtown Honolulu, the parish school of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace will close in June.

Father Gary Secor, cathedral rector, announced Jan. 15 that this school year would be the last for Cathedral Catholic Academy. Shutting down the school, he said, was “a difficult decision to make” but necessary for economic reasons.

“I know how dedicated our parishioners, parents and school staff are to our school and its children,” he said in a press release. “For 80 years, many wonderful things have been accomplished. Our graduates have gone on to be successful and spiritually enriched.”

“But, with the challenges we have faced in recent years regarding enrollment and finances, it is just not wise or feasible to continue to operate the school.”

Father Secor, who is also the diocese’s vicar general, finalized plans to close Cathedral Catholic Academy after consulting the school’s board members and the Hawaii Catholic Schools office. Bishop Larry Silva was informed as well in the process.

Cathedral Catholic Academy, originally named Cathedral School, opened in 1933 as an all-boys institution at the old Saint Louis School site by Nuuanu Stream, near Honolulu’s Chinatown.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the school’s move in 1936 to the old Damon home site on Nuuanu Avenue, makai of the Japanese Consulate. Cathedral School opened there on Sept. 14 of that year in a brand new building with about 270 students in grades three to seven.

It was run by the Marianist Brothers, the same order that sponsors Saint Louis School today. A residence for the Marianists was also constructed on the property in 1936. It later became the convent for the Franciscan Sisters Christian Charity, who came to staff the school in 1956, the year the school turned co-educational. The sisters left in the late 1980s.

Enrollment in the early years reached as high as 322 students. In 1990, the school had 220 students. By 2006, that number decreased to 143.

Cathedral Catholic Academy presently has 62 students total enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Father Secor notified parents and guardians about the school’s closing in a letter sent by mail and email on Jan. 15. He met with faculty and staff as well that day. Hawaii Catholic Schools superintendent Michael Rockers joined Father Secor for a meeting with the school’s families on Jan. 20.

A “school admissions fair” was scheduled to take place at Cathedral Catholic Academy Jan. 28. Local Catholic school principals were invited to speak with parents there about enrollment. The fair also planned to include counselors who were familiar with special needs services at public schools.

The Augustine Educational Foundation plans to aid Cathedral Catholic Academy students with application fee waivers for its scholarships to other Catholic schools.

The Hawaii Catholic Schools office and the diocesan department of human resources have offered to assist Cathedral Catholic Academy faculty and staff with employment options.

Father Secor informed Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace parishioners about the school’s closing in a letter inserted in the church bulletin during the Jan. 23-24 weekend.

“As we look to the future, we remain committed to helping our children learn and especially be enriched with the teachings of God and our Church,” he wrote. “We will continue to support the efforts of our religious education programs to help our parents form their children.”

“We will also need to discern the best future use for our school building as part of an overall vision for the Cathedral community and its facilities,” Father Secor added.

Finishing the year strong

Cathedral Catholic Academy principal Michael Paekukui aims to keep classes and scheduled activities going “business as usual” until June.

News of the impending closure, however, has been emotional for some in the school’s tight-knit ohana.

“Parents are grieving,” Paekukui said. “Students are hurting.”

The principal leans on his Catholic faith to “find the joy” in the rest of the school year. “Embracing the change,” he said, is just a part of “God’s plan.”

Paekukui started as a teacher at Cathedral Catholic Academy in the 1990s. He explained that at the time, it was “one of the only schools” in the downtown area. The small parish school has since had to compete with more educational institutions opening up.

The school recently implemented a new “project-based learning” curriculum in which students did more hands-on projects, self-pacing and digital work. Paekukui said this has increased students’ test scores, an achievement that unfortunately makes the school’s closing more difficult to take.

Students are “eager to learn,” Paekukui said.

Superintendent Rockers said the school’s closing is “especially sad, since their new educational model and teaching paradigm were showing some very positive results.”

“Father Gary and Michael Paekukui have done an excellent job,” Rockers said. Now, the focus is on and “supporting their school families and employees so they finish the school year strong and have a smooth transition.”

Father Secor, in his letter to cathedral parishioners, expressed his gratitude to “our school faculty and staff who love our children” and to “all the parents and guardians who have trusted us to assist them in educating their young ones.”

“Thanks to each of you,” he said, “for the many ways that you have sacrificed for and supported our school.”

Among the school’s graduates are entertainer Frank De Lima and journalist Catherine Toth.

The last Catholic school serving kindergarten through eighth grade to close completely was Holy Trinity Parish School in Hawaii Kai in 2010.

Christ the King School in Kahului, Maui, closed its grade school in 2011 but became an early learning center. St. Joseph School in Makawao, Maui, did the same at the end of the 2009-2010 school year.