St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School at 32 Prince Street between Mulberry and Mott Streets in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City was an Catholic K–8 school. It was one of the oldest schools in the Archdiocese of New York and in the city. It is run by the Sisters of Charity and had a population of about 200 students, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
The Federal-style building has been a New York City landmark since 1966 and, as part of the St. Patrick's Old Cathedral complex, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It has been described as "the most significant institutional building in the Federal style surviving in New York City."[1]
The school closed in June 2010 due to low enrollment.
Contents |
The brick building which the school occupies was built in 1825-26 for the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, which had been founded in 1822 in a wooden building on the same site by three Sisters of Charity sent by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.[2] In 1851, the asylum became for girls only, and in 1886 was turned into a girls' school, St. Patrick's Convent and Girls' School, New York's first and oldest parochial school.
Beginning with the city's Irish, French, and German Catholic communities, the school served successive generations of immigrant children. Even today, the school's population is diverse, with children coming from many races and ethnic communities; school notices are routinely printed in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Over 90% of students come from economically challenged families whose incomes fall well below the national poverty level.
The Archdiocese of New York closed the Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral School in June 2010, due to low enrollment. Parents of the current 129 students in pre-k through eighth grade will have have the option of enrolling their children at the Immaculate Conception School, St. Brigid School, or Our Lady of Sorrows School.