Mother Of Mercy And McAuley Merging

Mother Of Mercy And McAuley Merging

Two all-girls Catholic high schools are merging. Sisters of Mercy says Mother of Mercy and McAuley high schools will become Mercy McAuley High beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.

The blended school will be housed at the current McAuley campus in College Hill.

Sisters of Mercy - South Central Community, which operates both schools, says the decision is based on decreasing enrollments.

"A declining pool of potential students is impacting enrollment now and will continue to do so in the future. This is a situation affecting Catholic schools nationwide, as well as here in Cincinnati," says Sister Jane Hotstream, president of the Sisters of Mercy.

Mercy current has 495 students, McAuley has 468.

The sisters say current financial aid packages will remain in place and will transfer to the new school.

"We recognize this change is difficult and emotional for the communities of Mother of Mercy and of McAuley, and we understand that everyone who loves these schools - especially the girls - will need our understanding and support in the days and weeks to come," says Sister Jane.

It's unclear how many teaching positions will be affected. The release says staffing at the new school "will be based on student needs. It's too soon for us to know what those staffing requirements will be."

McAuley was chosen because it is the newer of the two buildings. The Sisters say the Mercy building, "although beautiful, is more than 100 years old and needs significant improvements."

Decisions about a new principal, president, a new mascot and school colors have not been made.

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