St. Ann School in Kaneohe to close in June after 180 years

Hawaii’s oldest Catholic school, St. Ann School in Kaneohe, will close for good in June after 180 years, due to declining enrollment over the past decade and a shaky financial future.

“St. Ann School has made a significant impact in the community of Kaneohe since its opening in 1841,” Principal Mandy Thronas­-Brown and the Rev. Richard McNally wrote in a letter Friday to the school community. “We can’t forget the rich history of the school and the thousands of children who have passed through its doors.”

Some Catholic schools have welcomed more students as families seek in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. But overall enrollment was down about 2.5% in kindergarten through 12th grade in Hawaii’s Catholic schools this academic year compared with last, similar to the 2.6% decline for public schools.

St. Ann, with students in preschool through eighth grade, has seen a steeper drop in recent years. It now has 126 students, 37 of them in its Early Learning Center, according to the school office. That’s down from 268 altogether in the 2014-15 academic year, according to Hawaii Association of Independent Schools data.

McNally, pastor of St. Ann Church and School, said possible closure has been in play for several years and that the decision was not made lightly. Last spring he issued a fundraising challenge to keep the school going.

Despite dedicated efforts by the school board, employees, parishioners and volunteers, the campaign fell short of its $500,000 goal in December, bringing in $72,000, according to Catholic Schools Superintendent Llewellyn Young.

“That was a very nice amount, but it wasn’t enough to sustain the school going forward,” Young said Monday. “It’s very sad. It’s the oldest (Catholic) school in the islands, according to our records, at 180 years old.”

Two other parish schools on the Windward side — St. Anthony and St. John Vianney in Kailua — are doing well, he said. Like St. Ann, both campuses are offering primarily in-person learning.

“The other two Windward schools have a good financial backing, and they have increased enrollment,” Young said.

St. Ann’s board examined various options without success.

“Every option they looked at they decided was not going to be sustainable,” Young said. “They gave it their best shot and unfortunately came up with this.”

St. Ann’s academic year ends June 4, but the school staff will stay on through June 30. Administrators will help employees and children find spots at other Catholic schools where possible.

St. Ann will be the fourth Catholic school to close in just over two years. Saint Francis School in Manoa shut down in May 2019, saddled by debt. Two small parish schools — St. John the Baptist in Kalihi and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ewa Beach — closed in June, their finances worsened by the pandemic.

“The challenge of providing a quality education, employing a qualified staff and paying just wages, steadily decreasing enrollment especially given the demographics of the Kaneohe area and the financial reality made us conclude that our school would not be able to thrive in service to our students and families,” McNally wrote.