The Archdiocese of Baltimore has announced a plan to lease some its closed school buildings in Baltimore City. These buildings had been closed as a result of the Archdiocese downsizing and consolodating their schools for better managmenet.
Some of the former Catholic school buildings in Baltimore will soon reopen as new educational facilities under the announced lease agreement. Now the buildings will reopen providing educational services in their respective neighborhood.
The leases will allow these buildings to be used for eduacational purposes only. This means the buildings will be used as charter schools, for example.
Earlier in 2011, the Archdiocese announced a new policy regarding how it will be processing requests to sell or lease the school buildings. One of the reasons cited for approving these lease agreements it that this educational programs will serve the community while not competing with existing Catholic Schools.
Already, the Archdioscese has sold or leased more than 20 former Catholic school buildings in the Archdiocese of Baltimore for use as educational institutions.
An example of this lease/sale took place at the Shrine of the Little Flower Parish. Shrine had served the Belair/Edison community with a school for decades, but with a neighborhood in decline and dropping enrollment it was closed by the Archdiocese. Now the building is not sitting ideal but it is used as a Baltimore City charter school, The Green School of Baltimore.
The five previously closed buildings are:
- Corpus Chirsti - Located in Bolton Hill, this will house the Midtown Academy, which is a charter school
- St. Francis Xavier - Located in East Baltimore, this will house the St. Vincent de Paul head start/early childhood program
- St. Brigid - Located in Canton, this will house Project LIFT, an adult literacy program
- Our Lady of Good Counsel - Located in Locust Point, this will house The Baltimore Montessori school for children ages 18 months to 6 years
- St. Peter Claver - Located in Baltimore, this will house Little Flowers Early Development, a day care for children ages 18 months to 4 years, and after-school care
The archdiocese announced a new policy earlier this year to processing requests to sell or lease the school buildings.The lease requests were approved because the new facilities are not expected to compete with existing Catholic schools.More than 20 former Catholic school buildings in the Archdiocese of Baltimore have been sold or leased for use as educational institutions.
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