Nativity BVM school closes after 127 years

The residents of Utica and Holley Streets in Brockport noticed a big change this September. The streets are quieter and there are fewer school buses driving by. The parking lot is empty and the sound of children's voices no longer fills the neighborhood during recess.

After serving the community for 127 years, Nativity BVM School in Brockport has closed its doors because of declining enrollment and financial concerns.

The school first opened on January 10, 1876 in a converted horse barn on the corner of Utica and Erie Streets where the parking lot is today. In 1916, the school was moved diagonally across the street to a new building on the northeast corner of Holley and Utica Streets. Then, in 1955, a six-classroom extension was built, connecting the old school building to Bolger Hall, the old church which had been converted into a gymnasium.

The decline in enrollment was a long-term trend, according to Michael Tedesco, director of Marketing Communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester. In the past ten years, the enrollment had decreased by more than 50 percent.

In the 2002-2003 school year, there were only 60 students enrolled in kindergarten through grade four, and there weren't enough students enrolled for the school to offer a fifth grade class.

For the 2003-2004 school year, "We had registration for some classes that showed just two kids in a class," Tedesco said, adding that it would have been almost impossible to, "put together a program for such diminished numbers."

Finances and the physical condition of the building also played a significant role in the diocese's decision to close the school. The diocese had received estimates that it would cost approximately $100,000 to make the needed repairs.

For almost 120 years, Nativity operated as a parish school and any shortfall in the budget was made up from parish funds. Then in 1993, the diocese centralized control of all the Catholic schools, a subtle change that coincided almost exactly with the beginning of the drop in enrollment at the school.

When Nativity was a parish school, the School Committee was made up of parents who were directly involved in the month-to-month finances of the school. Finances were always a problem, but the classrooms were usually full. In 1994, 26 fifth grade students graduated from the school, 24 students graduated in 1999.

The parents managed the annual recruitment campaigns, which were written by people who lived in Brockport, Clarkson, Hamlin and Sweden for parents who lived right down the street in the same towns.

Those campaigns had a local appeal that mirrored the very nature of the school. There was also a vibrant word-of-mouth network that kept the public aware of the school's academic reputation.

Enrollment fluctuated, and some classes were smaller than others, but Pre-K and kindergarten classes thrived in the basement, creating a constant influx of new blood for the school.

Tuition was a huge issue for parents. To address this, fundraising was often geared to keep the cost of tuition under control, and the school was able to offer a considerable amount of tuition assistance.

However after the administration change, local fundraising faded, tuition started to rise, and enrollment tailed off throughout the late 1990s. Enrollment for the current school year was down to fewer than 50 students.

The high quality of the education children received at Nativity was never in question. In fact, the success of Nativity's graduates speaks for itself. During this past school year, five Nativity graduates were members of the National Honor Society at Brockport High School, a disproportionately high number when you consider that less than five percent of the high school's students attended Nativity.

Also, the freshmen and sophomore students who finished with the highest grade point average in their class at Brockport High School, Sarah Mangan and Caitlin Myers, are both Nativity graduates.

Nativity had a wonderful tradition and a long history of successful academics. However, the diocese felt that there simply weren't enough students enrolled in the school. Parents were notified of the closing in plenty of time to transfer their children to other schools.

The school building is currently being used by the Cornerstone Christian Academy, which has an enrollment of about 60 students.