Diocese of Pittsburgh to merge 4 elementary schools

The Diocese of Pittsburgh on Friday announced the two mergers of four elementary schools, “as part of the regional school board’s efforts to strengthen Catholic schooling in the south region.”

In the 2021-2022 school year, Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin in Whitehall will merge with Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in Pleasant Hills. The new school will use Saint Gabriel’s campus.

Saint Margaret of Scotland in Green Tree and Saint Philip in Crafton will merge, with the new school to be located at the Saint Margaret campus.

“This decision comes after more than a year’s deliberation and many, many hours of study,” said the Rev. David Poecking, president of South Regional Catholic Elementary Schools, the regional governing board. “While change can be difficult, we can bring together the best of the past to support a strong future for the newly merged schools.”

The decision drew from study of financial and demographic data, student enrollment trends, consultation with parish and school communities and other information, officials said. The mergers are considered the “best possible way to continue to provide a Catholic school education for the children in the south region.”

The mergers follow several similar moves in recent years. Last year, the diocese also closed Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Harrison, as well as Saint Maria Goretti in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood and East Catholic School in Forest Hills. In July 2020, the diocese officially merged four schools in the South Hills to create Ave Maria Academy.

“Our goal remains to provide families with spiritually vibrant, academically excellent and financially sustainable Catholic schools for generations to come,” Michelle Peduto, director of Catholic Schools, said.