Holy Family Catholic Schools

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Holy Family Catholic Schools (HFCS) is a Roman Catholic school system based in Dubuque, Iowa (USA). Holy Family, which operates schools in eastern Dubuque County, is a part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque. As of the 2007-2008 school year, HCFS has 1,859 students enrolled in its schools (excluding preschool).^[1]

1 General Information
- 1.1 Enrollment
- 1.2 Standardized testing results
2 History
3 Controversy
- 3.1 Recent Developments
4 Schools in Holy Family
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] General Information

HFCS currently operates:

[edit] Enrollment

In the 2006-2007 school year, there were 1,954 students attending Holy Family Catholic Schools. Of those, 1,874 (95.9%) were White, 21 (1.1%) were Black, 31 (1.6%) were Asian, and 4 (.2%) were American Indian. 24 (1.2%) students were Hispanic, and may be of any race. Additionally, 995 (50.9%) were male, and 959 (49.1%) were female.^[2]

[edit] Standardized testing results

[edit] History

[edit] Controversy

The closing of elementary schools in Dubuque has generated a significant amount of controversy and anguish since Holy Family's formation. In the less than 10 years that Dubuque's Catholic schools have been led by the Holy Family School Board, 5 elementary schools in 7 buildings have closed. They were: Holy Trinity, Nativity, Sacred Heart, St. Joseph Key West, St. Joseph The Worker, St. Mary's, and St. Patrick's. This has been particularly hard on Dubuque's Downtown, North End, and Midtown neighborhoods, where all of the schools were located. The northern portion of Dubuque, which had 5 elementary buildings operating as recently as 2002, now has only one: Holy Ghost.

This has taken a great toll on parish identity in Dubuque. Many parishes operated their own, independent schools for decades (over 100 years in some cases). The Holy Family School Board, on the other hand, has greatly pushed efforts toward consolidation and centralization of operations.

In closing 5 schools, and with smaller enrollment at the remaining schools, Holy Family has laid off a number of teachers and other staff virtually every year since its formation.

HCFS has also implemented several controversial tuition hikes, which partially contributed to the loss in enrollment. Holy Family contends that the revenue is needed to continue to keep the schools operating.

[edit] Recent Developments

In 2005, Nativity Elementary School was closed and the buildings subsequently functioned as a temporary middle school. This lasted only one year, as the students moved to Mazzuchelli Middle School in 2006.
In August 2006, Mazzuchelli Middle School opened on the campus of Wahlert High School. The facility is unique in that it is the first-ever grade 6-8 school owned and operated by a Catholic educational institution in Dubuque. Previously, all Catholic elementary schools operated K-8 programs.
In June 2007, Holy Family closed two of its long-operating elementary schools, St. Joseph The Worker and St. Joseph Key West. Our Lady of Guadalupe Spanish Immersion Program, which was housed at St. Joseph The Worker, will move to St. Anthony Elementary School in Fall 2007. St. Joseph The Worker will continue to operate its early childhood program, although the future of St. Joseph Key West is unknown.