The Parish of St. Joseph in Homewood invites former students and teachers of St. Joseph School to celebrate its 91-year history on Saturday, May 20.
The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Catholic Schools and the Archdiocesan School Board in January announced its decision to close the school, 17949 Dixie Highway, at the end of the current semester.
A mass honoring the many graduates and teachers of St. Joseph, affectionately called St. Joe’s, will be celebrated at 5:15 p.m. Afterward teachers, alumni, parishioners and friends can walk through the school halls one last time.
A Memory Wall will be created that evening giving visitors the opportunity to share a special memory.
Food and refreshments will be available for purchase.
The school opened in a six-room brick building on Sept. 7, 1926, with an enrollment of 72 students. The teaching staff was from the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Mich. Two classroom additions were added later to accommodate the more than 1,000 students it served in the 1950s and 1960s.
Enrollment has steadily dropped from that high to fewer than 100 students this year.
