St. Peter Catholic Academy, Bensonhurst

Again, those who write narratives for news on Channel 12 show ignorance of the neighborhoods of Brooklyn. St. Peter Catholic Academy is in Bensonhurst, not Gravesend.
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The website of St. Peter Catholic Academy has a full history (linked HERE) explaining the role of this elementary school, now sponsored by three parishes: St. Mary Mary Mother of Jesus, St. Finbar, and St. Frances Cabrini. The address is 8401 23rd Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11214.

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The June 15, 2022 issue of the Brooklyn Tablet has a half-page with photos of the thirteen graduates of St. Peter Catholic Academy.

School merger, St. Francis Xavier and Queen of All Saints

Please see The Tablet article linked HERE

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy on President Street will merge with and move into Queen of All Saints Catholic Academy, at the corner of Vanderbilt and Lafayette Avenues, Brooklyn. This is a move north of about 21 short blocks or 1.3 miles. More details are in the lengthy article, dated May 9, 2018.

Religious Ed enrollment 2015

The 2016 Official Catholic Directory, recently published, gives religious education enrollments in most of the Catholic parishes in the borough of Brooklyn. Presumably most of the counts are from 2015 or earlier, and some of the figures are missing, so my totals are inexact.
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In the ninety or so parishes of Kings County, there seem to be 15,146 children enrolled in CCD or religious education classes, many on Sunday mornings, others during the week. The median enrollment is about 157, or maybe 20 youngsters per grade. In Nassau County, the median enrollment is about 430. A few Brooklyn parishes did not give figures, but their bulletins refer to a program. 
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The highest reported enrollments seem to be Good Shepherd (430), St. Martin of Tours (442), St. Joseph Suydam St. (572), and Blessed Sacrament (582). Eighteen parishes report fewer than eighty students in CCD.
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Thirty of the thirty-four academies or elementary schools in Brooklyn reported a total enrollment of about 7,450.  The largest enrollments seem to be at St. Bernadette, Midwood Catholic, Saint Saviour, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Six reported enrollments under 225. Salve Regina,with 22 teachers, seems to have many students, but the enrollment was not given.
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I wish that the schools' websites would report enrollment per grade level.

NY Daily News Back to School Section

About August 22, 2016, the New York Daily News included a special advertising section for Back to School vendors.  Interspersed are laudatory descriptions of several Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens Catholic elementary and high schools.
Warning! Links to Daily News sections often go stale and become useless.
If you are quick, please try
http://www.nydailynews.com/services/back-to-school

John J. O'Malley, architect

In my visits to Brooklyn parishes, I have seldom encountered a sign or plaque giving the name of the architect who designed the church.  Fortunately, the Tablet has now run an article about the prolific architect John J. O'Malley, 1915-1970.  Please see the article HERE.  The occasion was his 100th birthday, with Mr. O'Malley's descendants visiting Cathedral College in Douglaston, which he designed.
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Much of Mr. O'Malley's work is evident in circular churches and chapels in Queens.  A Wikipedia article lists his extensive accomplishments, including apparently some renovations or extensions. It appears that his brand-new churches (contrasted with renovations) date from 1950 until his death in 1970.  Archbishop Molloy died in 1956, Bishop McEntegart retired in 1968, and Bishop Mugavero replaced him.  
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Many thanks to The Tablet and the O'Malley family for publicizing his life and work!
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According to the Wikipedia article, he designed the following churches in the borough of Brooklyn:
St. Sylvester, Grant Avenue, City Line, obviously built in the O'Malley era.
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St. Athanasius, Bay Parkway, 1963.  Note the unobstructed view of the altar and the bright, colorful interior and windows.
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St. Gabriel,  Linwood St. and New Lots Ave., obviously built in the O'Malley era.  The parish cluster is now called Mary, Mother of the Church.  This interior photo shows his style, with unobstructed view.  The parish has a Saturday vigil Mass and three Masses on Sunday.
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St. Mary Mother of Jesus, 1968, replacing a church destroyed by fire. A Tablet article dated 6.13.14 describes the fire and the beautiful new church, circular and wheelchair-accessible.
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St. Finbar, Bath Beach, but the church was built before 1912.  Mr. O'Malley may have designed the former school across the street.
--- Sts. Simon and Jude, listed as Bayside (Queens), but I think Gravesend (Brooklyn). There is a resemblance to the Douglaston seminary frontage.
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And other parish buildings:
St. Nicholas High School, Catherine St., Williamsburg, now renovated and in use by Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy.
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St. Vincent Ferrer elementary school, Flatbush, now used for other purposes.
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St. Bernard parish school, near Bergen Beach.  This page names John O'Malley's firm as architect of the school, which opened in 1963 and continues in 2015 as a Catholic academy. Across the street is a circular church, but the parish history does not give a date.  It may have been built after Mr. O'Malley's sudden death in 1970.

St. Jerome Academy to close in June

The Brooklyn Tablet, in an article dated 2.12.2014, announces the closure this June of St. Jerome Academy, East 29th Street, near Newkirk and Nostrand Avenues.  The article states that 235 students are enrolled, and that the closure results from monetary deficits in operation and repairs.

Pope John Paul II Family Academy to close

See this Tablet article dated 2.12.2014 about the closing of Pope John Paul II Family Academy (in the former St. Barbara School) this June.  Lack of funds is given as the reason.  Please recall that this academy was funded by an anonymous donor.  At the time of the schools initiation, there was some report of the donor's insistence of family participation in Sunday Mass.  The Tablet article does not indicate the enrollment or the grades that are being taught, nor does it mention staffing. A rooftop photo on the academy's website shows about 110 students and 15 staff, including two or three religious Sisters, perhaps from Poland.

Outstanding advertising in NY Daily News 4.7.2013

This morning, I picked up a Sunday New York Daily News, $1.50 at Dunkin', to find a magnificent special forty-four page advertising section for the Catholic elementary schools of Brooklyn and Queens.  The entire section is available on the Daily News website linked here.
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The front cover is titled Catholic Schools Spring Tours.  It shows eleven students and two teachers at St. Kevin's, Flushing.
I will list the schools in the order of presentation in this advertising section:
On page 4, Blessed Sacrament School, Euclid Avenue, East New York.
On page 4, Catherine Laboure Special Education Program, serving elementary and high school students, open house April 11 and May 16, 2013.
Full page 5, St. Patrick School, Bay Ridge.
On page 6, Mary Queen of Heaven, Avenue M and East  57th Street.
On page 6, Holy Angels Catholic Academy, 74th Street, Bay Ridge.
Full page 7, St. Jerome School, East 29th Street, East Flatbush, 718.462.0211.
On page 8, Midwood Catholic Academy, Hendrickson Street.
On page 8, Nazareth Regional High School, East 57th Street, with an Open Admissions Day on May 1, 2013.
On page 9, Our Lady of Grace School, Avenue W.
On page 9, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Sixth Avenue and 59th Street.
On page 10, Our Lady of Guadalupe School, 72nd Street, Dyker Heights.
On page 10, Our Lady of Trust Catholic Academy, Canarsie.
On page 11, Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy, Williamsburg.
On page 11, Salve Regina Catholic Academy, East New York.
On page 12, St. Agatha School, 48th Street, Sunset Park, 718.435.3137.
On page 12, St. Anselm Catholic Academy, 83rd Street, Bay Ridge.
On page 13, St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, Greenpoint.
On page 13, Saint Saviour Catholic Academy, 701 Eighth Avenue, Park Slope.
On page 14, St. Mark School, Sheepshead Bay.
On page 14, St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy, Windsor Terrace.
On page 15. St. Gregory the Great, 2520 Church Avenue, Flatbush.
On page 15, St. Francis Xavier School, 763 President Street, Park Slope.
On page 16, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy, Lincoln Rd. & Nostrand Ave.On page 16, St. Ephrem School, Open House, April 10th, 718-833-1440.
On page 17, St. Edmund Elementary School, 1902 Avenue T.
On page 17, St. Catherine of Genoa - St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Academy, Avenue D.
On page 18, St. Bernard School, 2030 East 69th Street.
On page 18, St. Athanasius School, 6120 Bay Parkway.
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The remaining pages of this Daily News supplement cover Catholic schools in Queens.  An excellent map of the two boroughs is provided.

An updated map of elementary schools

In connection with Spring Tours of Catholic elementary schools, an updated map is available here.

An excellent map of elementary schools

The January 26, 2013, Brooklyn Tablet published an excellent map of 38 Catholic elementary schools in Brooklyn and 57 in the borough of Queens.  It is obvious that the intended conversion to the "Catholic academy" governance format has been about half accomplished so far.
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An April, 2013, update of the map is available at this link.
More information can be found here.
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The map does not transmit the hard work by parents, teachers, and students to education, but the good qualities support this overview.
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This blog and the map described above use Brooklyn zip codes to designate neighborhoods and clusters.  The offering of Catholic education has thinned out so much that not only are there about fourteen zip codes without any Catholic elementary school, but several adjoining neighborhoods have no Catholic school.  The threesome across Brooklyn, Borough Park, Kensington, and Midwood appears now more Jewish than it was  thirty years ago.  The shoreline neighborhoods of Bush Terminal, Red Hook, and Brooklyn Heights had schools, but no longer do, perhaps as dockworkers lost employment. The zip codes called Crown Heights, Stuyvesant, St.John's Place, Brevoort, and Brownsville have no Catholic schools.

St. Matthew, Crown Heights

The parish of St. Matthew, Crown Heights, has three churches: St. Matthew on Eastern Parkway near Utica Avenue, St. Gregory the Great at Brooklyn Avenue and St. John's Place (that is, a mile west of St. Matthew), and Our Lady of Charity on Dean Street (that is, eight blocks north of St. Matthew).  The parish address is 1123 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY 11213, telephone 718-774-6747.
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The website of St. Gregory the Great elementary school is linked here.

My photos of the church of St. Gregory the Great are linked here.

Dominican Sisters of Amityville

The Dominican Sisters of Amityville have staffed many parish schools in Brooklyn for decades, some perhaps more than a century. A friend has given me this list of Amityville Dominican parish schools, which I separate by zip-code in order to keep neighborhoods somewhat together and to facilitate using this information when I walk around more neighborhoods to write this blog. In order of numerical zipcode:
11206 -- Sts. Joseph and Dominic Academy, at Most Holy Trinity parish, Williamsburg. From 1853 until the 21st century, the Dominican Sisters staffed the parish school here.
11209 -- St. Patrick, Fort Hamilton.
11211 -- St. Nicholas, Williamsburg.
11219 -- St. Frances de Chantal, 58th Street.
11221 -- St. Barbara, Bushwick.
11221 -- St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, Suydam St.
11221 -- Fourteen Holy Martyrs, Bushwick.
11223 -- Sts. Simon and Jude, Gravesend.
11224 -- Our Lady of Solace, Coney Island.
11228 -- Our Lady of Guadalupe, 73rd Street, Dyker Heights.
11228 -- St. Frances Cabrini, Bay 11th Street.
11229 -- Good Shepherd, Batchelder St.
11231 -- St. Mary Star of the Sea, Court St., Red Hook.
11236 -- St. Jude, Carnarsie.

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The work of these religious Sisters has been most effective and generous.



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Sisters of St Joseph, Brentwood

The Sisters of St. Joseph (sometimes called Brooklyn Josephites or Brentwood Josephites) have staffed many parish schools in Brooklyn for decades, some perhaps more than a century. An inquiry has resulted in this list of Josephite parish schools, which I separate by zip-code in order to keep neighborhoods somewhat together and to facilitate using this information when I walk around more neighborhoods to write this blog. In order of zipcode:
11201 - St James
11204 - Holy Spirit, St Athanasius
11205 - Queen of All Saints
11206 - Immaculate Conception
11207 - Our Lady of Lourdes, St Malachy, St Michael
11208 - Blessed Sacrament, St Gabriel
11211 - Epiphany, Our Lady of Mt Carmel, St Vincent de Paul, Transfiguration
11213 - St Matthew
11214 - Precious Blood
11214 - St Mary, Mother of Jesus
11215 - Holy Name
11215 - St Francis Xavier
11215 - St John the Evangelist
11215 - St Thomas Aquinas
11216 - Our Lady of Victory
11217 - St Augustine
11218 - Immaculate Heart
11220 - Our Lady of Perpetual Help
11221 - Our Lady of Good Counsel
11222 - St Anthony
11222 - St Cecilia
11225 - St Francis of Assisi
11226 - Holy Cross
11229 - St Brendan
11230 - St Rose of Lima
11231 - St Agnes
11231 - Visitation
11232 - St Michael
11234 - St Thomas Aquinas
11238 - St Joseph (Pacific St), St Teresa of Avila
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Imagine the number of years given by these sisters to Christian education!



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St Anselm, Fourth Ave. and 82nd St., Bay Ridge

The mailing address for St. Anselm's parish is 356 82nd St., Brooklyn NY 11209, telephone 718-238-2900.  Mass schedules are on the parish website, linked here.

To enlarge any photo, please click on it.

The mosaic behind the altar shows Anselm as archbishop of Canterbury. The mosaic is the work of Leif Neandross of the famous Rambusch Decorating Company. The Rambuschs designed much of the interior of the church ( You can see their current website here: http://www.rambusch.com/site/history.htm ). As it turns out, in the early years of the parish, the Rambuschs lived just two blocks down on 82nd near Ridge Blvd. This was a wonderful asset to our parish as the church was being built!
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"This precious marble mosaic includes some gold glass mosaic to give an added richness to the subtle and disciplined gray and ochre theme." Surrounding the heroic figure of St. Anselm are different symbols which refer to this great saint's role as a Doctor of the church, a traveler in the service of his Faith, and as Archbishop of Canterbury."

You can see those references specifically in these symbols:

Bottom left - the coat of arms of the bishop of Canterbury
Bottom right - the cathedral of Canterbury
Middle left - a boat representing his journey to England
Middle right - a scroll representing Scholasticism
Top Right - Virgin and Child, representing his treatise "De Incarnatione Verbi" about Christ's incarnation and birth
Top Left - A mountain, representing his treatise "Proslogion" in which he argues that "God is greater than that which can be conceived" (in this case, the mountain symbolizes the greatest thing that can be conceived by one's mind.)

(Thanks to Joe Jordan for the above.)
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The mailing address of St. Anselm Roman Catholic School is 365 83rd Street, Brooklyn NY 11209, telephone 718-745-7643.  The school's website is linked here.  The above photo shows it on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 83rd Street.




St. Anselm Roman Catholic Church and School is located between 82nd and 83rd Streets on Fourth Avenue in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. While the original parish boundaries are from 78th Street to 87th Street, and from Shore Road to the Gowanus Expressway approaching the Verrazano Bridge, people from all over Brooklyn regularly attend Mass here.

The parish was organized in the early 1920s, in response to the growing population of the neighborhood following the construction of the subway. The first Masses were celebrated in a private house on Colonial Road and 81st Street until land was purchased for a church. In 1923 a temporary free-standing church, which is now the auditorium for the parish school, was erected on the corner of 83rd Street and 4th Avenue. The present school building was built around this original structure. A large convent is adjacent to the school on the 83rd Street side, and throughout most of its history the school was served by School Sisters of Notre Dame. St. Anselm's has been educating Bay Ridge's youth for over 80 years and has the highest student enrollment in the neighborhood today.

The cornerstone of the present church building was set by Archbishop Thomas E. Molloy in 1954. The church, which has pronounced art-deco features, was designed by architect Henry V. Murphy and was decorated by the Rambusch Decorating Company. The stained glass windows that surround the interior depict the stages of salvation history, from Genesis to Pentecost, and in the side-chapels the windows depict the mysteries of the Rosary. A memorial grotto dedicated to the Blessed Mother is located on the 83rd street side of the church.

St. Anselm's is a vibrant parish with an acclaimed youth activities program and numerous pastoral ministries. If you would like to learn more about St. Anselm's, please visit their website at http://www.starcc.net/

And if you have any stories or old photographs about the parish you would like to share with them to help their parish history project, please email: ppc(at)starcc(dot)net
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1 comment:

Barbara said...

This is a terrific project. Thanks to Joe Jordon for the initial article. Does anyone know where and how to find historical demographic data by census tract? Barbara Walters-Doehrman

February 8, 2009 8:21 AM

Replying to that comment:
I suspect a good start for historical demographic data would be at one of the larger Brooklyn public library reference desks. Much is probably available on the internet, but I don't know where. A few years ago, I was very pleased by the help I received at the National Archives on Varick Street, Manhattan, entrance on West Houston Street, link here. Joe M.)
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To add a comment, click on the "Comment" link above the photos. I moved the comments up there because the layout was placing the comments confusingly close to the following post.
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The travels of St. Anselm astound me. He was born about 1033 in Aosta, Lombardy, northwest Italy, almost into present-day France. About age 23 entered a Benedictine monastery in Bec, Normandy, and from there he went on to Canterbury, becoming archbishop in 1092. He then made two trips to Rome, one of these extended to Bari, and back again to his see of Canterbury, where he died April 21, 1109. One of the better capsule biographies of Anselm on the internet is here, but you have to work around to April 21. The new full edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints (12 vol., Liturgical Press, 1999, revised by Peter Doyle) gives Anselm six pages. Joe M.
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A banner proclaims that St. Anselm's school is the largest in Bay Ridge. In the 2012 Official Catholic Directory, it is listed as having 439 students. In 1945, the number seems to have been 1,090, according to the Catholics in New York exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. In the 2016 Official Catholic Director, St. Anselm's Catholic Academy is listed as having 284 students.
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The New York Public Library has a digital collection on the web. In 1924, the city commissioned aerial views of all boroughs. This view seems to show the property of present-day St. Anselm's on the west side of Fourth Avenue either empty or with an unidentified white splotch in the center. One can use the Pan and Zoom tool to look more closely.
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Sometimes the Home Reporter and Sunset News has items of interest concerning Bay Ridge Catholic parishes and schools. 

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In April, 2013, the New York Daily News reported that the former convent has been renovated and leased to the non-profit YAI, Young Adult Intitiative, for sixteen senior citizens with special needs.