BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

PHOTO ABOVE BY PAT HICKEY; OTHER PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE VARNO Clockwise from top, Valedictorian Tamara Beauvil wipes tears from her eyes as she addresses the class of 2006, the last eighth-grade class to graduate from Holy Trinity School in Long Branch. Books and school supplies are being packed into boxes and chairs stacked in anticipation of the school closing its doors. Numerous graduations have been celebrated at Holy Trinity School in Long Branch over the past four decades, but this year's graduating class stands out among the rest.

On Friday night, the eighth-grade class of 2006 was the last to receive their diplomas from Holy Trinity School, which will be shut down at the end of this school year.

"It is just sad," said Sister RoseAnn Fernandez in an interview last week. She has been principal of the school on Exchange Place for the past eight years.

"Everyone here is sad," she said. "The students are having mixed emotions. It's the seventh-graders who are really anxious. They are all excited about summer, but they were hoping they could have completed their education here. Everyone will have to be starting at a new school next year."

An announcement was made at a special meeting in May to parish and school community members that the Diocese of Trenton had made a decision to shut down the school at the end of the school year due to "a serious decline in enrollment," according to a press release from the diocese.

"There will be an empty nest in Long Branch," Fernandez said. "This is the only Catholic school in the area that served a community of such a diverse population.

"[Holy Trinity] is the most family-oriented school I know," she continued. "It is such a close-knit, loving and caring community."

Holy Trinity has committed to providing $1,000 scholarships to each of the current students at the school to attend any of the following schools: Our Lady of Mount Caramel, Asbury Park; Pope John XXIII Regional School, Ocean Township; and St. Jerome, West Long Branch.

According to Fernandez, of the 102 students currently enrolled at the school, 35 students will be attending Pope John XXIII, five will be attending Our Lady of Mount Caramel, and one student will be attending St. Jerome.

An additional five students will be attending other Catholic schools, and the remaining students are planning either to attend public school or are still undecided, Fernandez said.

But Fernandez said the school's 10 teachers, secretaries, cafeteria aide and maintenance workers are not as fortunate.

"So far only three teachers have gotten jobs at other schools," Fernandez said. "One of our teachers will be teaching at St. James in Red Bank, and two of our teachers will be going over to St. Joseph's in Toms River."

As for Fernandez, she has been transferred to Blessed Sacrament School in Paterson, where she will be principal.

Holy Trinity School was one of the schools originally earmarked for closure or consolidation by the diocese-commissioned Strategic Planning Process that concluded its Monmouth County phase in November.

On Jan. 18, Bishop John M. Smith announced that due to a pending offer by a benefactor to help fund the school, the bishop would not accept the recommendation to close the school, which has experienced a steady decline in enrollment over the past 15 years and a heavy debt burden that escalated each year, according to the press release.

When a donation was pledged in late January, the announcement was made that Holy Trinity would remain open for the next school year, during which time "members of the community will develop and implement a plan to provide for the [school's] long-term viability," according to a statement by the diocese on Feb. 2.

But a disappointing and unexpected twist of fate left Holy Trinity once again searching for another miracle to keep the school's doors open.

School families were advised in a letter in March and again on May 1 that additional students were needed to keep the school's doors open. The May 1 letter set a May 5 deadline for an additional 45 students to register, which would have brought enrollment close to 115 students, according to the press release.

But the pre-K through eighth-grade school, which has been open to the community since 1961, was not able to find the additional students in that short time, according to Fernandez.

A decision was finalized by the diocese on May 5 to close the school at the end of this school year.

"This is a school where the children feel comfortable in the small environment," Fernandez said. "I know all of my students' names and all of their families."

Fernandez added that the school building will continue to be used by the parish for religious education classes and other meetings.