Sacred Heart High School (Pennsylvania)

Sacred Heart High School was a Roman Catholic Junior/Senior high school in Carbondale, PA. It was formerly known as St. Rose. By order of Bishop Martino, grades 9-12 were closed in June 2004.

The school’s mascot was the Crusader, and the school’s colors were blue and gold. The school had other mascots in its era. The Hilltoppers and the Roses. The students of the school voted to change the mascot from the roses to the crusaders in late 1992.

Golden Era

The school opened in 1876 as St. rose Academy. It was a boarding school for boys. It was housed in teh Brenna esate, which was a large victorian home on the top of Lincoln Avenue (Marian Community Hospital). A another building was constructed in 1915 to house the students. In 1950, a large, modern school was built. The high school building was constructed in 1950 on the corner of South Church Street and Seventh Avenue as St. Rose High School. It housed grades 7-12. There were two feeder schools; St. Rose Elementary in Carbondale, and the larger Mt. Carmel Elementary across town. The school attracted no students from St. Vincent Elementary located in Honesdale, PA. In the 1960s, the enrollment of Mt. Carmel Elementary rose to 390 students, and St. Rose Elementary topped out at 240. The high school had over 275 students at its peak.

Decline

In 1977, St. Rose High School was renamed Sacred Heart High School. Mt. Carmel Elementary and St. Rose Elementary consolidated to form Sacred Heart School in the early 200's. . The preschool and grades K-3 were located in the Mt. Carmel building; while grades 4-12 were located in the St. Rose High building, with grades 4-6 being Sacred Heart Intermediate. The St. Rose Elementary building was used only for Sunday School, and is vacant to this day.

Final Years

As the population of Carbondale and the surrounding areas declined, the enrollment of Sacred Heart also fell. Threats to close the High School were met with such public outcry in 1993, 1995, and 2000 that the school remained open, despite a growing debt annually, with no real hope of ever operating in the black again, and continued decline in enrollment. Finally, the newly appointed Bishop Martino announced the closure of the high school in 2005. The school ran a telethon and raised the amount of debt in pledges over a two week period. However, the efforts were in vain, and by order of the bishop grades 9-12 closed. During the final year (2004-2005), the high school had an enrollment of 94 students, only 19% of the building’s capacity.

See also: Sacred Heart Elementary School, Carbondale PA