Archdiocese of Chicago to Close Six Catholic Elementary Schools at End of 2025–26 School Year

Overview

• The closures will affect Our Lady of Humility (Beach Park), Sts. Bruno and Richard (Archer Heights), St. Hubert (Hoffman Estates), St. Jerome (Bridgeport), St. Francis Borgia (Dunning), and St. Stanislaus Kostka (West Town).
• The archdiocese says the schools will operate through June and that it will help families enroll in other Catholic schools and assist staff in finding new positions.
• State data show each school enrolled fewer than 250 students in 2024–25, with individual figures reported such as 191 at Sts. Bruno and Richard, 157 at St. Francis Borgia, 137 at St. Stanislaus Kostka, and about 114 at St. Jerome across two campuses.
• Community efforts to fill budget gaps continue, including a St. Francis Borgia fundraiser that had collected $6,755 after a $400,000 target was set to sustain operations.
• Archdiocesan leaders and local reporting tie the decision to decades of enrollment decline and to financial pressures intensified by the end of Illinois’ Invest in Kids scholarship program, with deficits cited around $450,000 at St. Jerome and about $500,000 at St. Stanislaus.