St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception School closing after lack of teachers

GUTTENBERG, Iowa (KCRG) - After only having one licensed teacher contracted to serve the school heading into the new year, St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception School has made the tough decision to close its doors.

On August 4th, the school board met to finalize plans for the upcoming school year, but after searching and finding no additional available teachers, the board found no option to offer a “safe, quality, accredited Catholic education.

In a letter sent to families, the School Board President, Principal, and Pastor stated that “The weight of this decision is heavy on our hearts. Recognizing how important your children are we cannot in good conscience offer a program that is not of high quality just to keep the school open. Therefore, it is with great sadness we announce St. Mary ImmaculateConception School will be unable to serve students this school year and will close. We are unable to offer a high-quality Catholic education that maintains the standard of excellence on which St. Mary’s was built.”

According to principal Angela Jones, there are approximately 38 families affected by this.

The school listed potential Catholic School alternatives to ensure its families can find the education they desire. The options include:

• LaSalle, Holy Cross (16 miles)
  • Preschool-6th
  • Contact: Principal Brenda Lansing, 563.870.2405 or blansing@lasalle.pvt.k12.ia.us
• Xavier, Dyersville (23 miles)
  • Preschool-6th
  • Contact: Principal Peter Smith, 563.875.7376 or psmith@xavier.pvt.k12.ia.us
• Beckman, Dyersville (23 miles)
  • 7th-12th
  • Contact: Principal Marcel Kielkucki, 563.875.7188 or mkielkucki@beckman.pvt.k12.ia.us

There is no discussion about reopening the school next year if they are about to get more teachers.

You can read the full letter from the school below:

Copyright 2022 KCRG. All rights reserved.