The school serves students from preschool to high school. There was also an adult day care on campus, making it a place where people of various ages come together as one community.
For decades, Saint Francis School was an all-girl's school until 2006 when it went co-ed. A few years later, a former all-boys Catholic school Damien Memorial School, also went co-ed.
This was a part of a changing tide when formerly one-gender schools became co-ed. This was especially the case for schools that didn't have a brother/sister school nearby. Both Damien and Saint Francis are in different parts of Honolulu, making it inconvenient for parents who drive their kids in the morning.
Meanwhile, Sacred Hearts Academy (all girls) and Saint Louis School (all boys) are within walking distance from each other, so they'll probably remain one-gender schools for a long time. Many brothers/sisters and boyfriend/girlfriends are in those schools.
As Saint Francis School added more boys to its population, the school decided to have its own football team. The problem is that the school has a very tiny campus, and football requires many players on a team. The sport also requires expensive equipment for all the players. There's no way that school could ever compete on a level playing field with larger private schools like Punahou, Kamehameha or Saint Louis. Saint Francis School would've been better off just sticking with less expensive sports like basketball or volleyball.
Saint Francis School did charge lower tuition as compared to other private schools. The problem was that it just wasn't enough to sustain the school. The parent organization, Sisters of Saint Francis of the Neumann Communities, was subsidizing the school for years but could no longer afford to do so.
In September 2017, the principal Sister Joan of Arc Souza (also an alumnus) did get some controversy for stating in a Midweek article that the Catholic Church needs to be more accepting of the LGBT.
Jade Moon, “The Big Champion of st. Francis,” Midweek, September 12, 2017,
http://www.midweek.com/st-francis-school-sister-joan-of-arc-souza/
At the end of the school year, she was fired. Coincidence? Probably not.
(note: The parent organization Sisters of Saint Francis of the Neumann Communities didn't mention that issue as a reason for the firing but come on, it can't be a coincidence)
Dan Nakaso, “Longtime Leader of st. Francis School Ousted,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 14, 2019
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/06/14/hawaii-news/longtime-leader-of-st-francis-school-ousted/
Then this school year, Casey Asato was hired to be the first male Head of School to this formerly all-girls school. This would be the only school-year since it was announced in January that the school would have to shut down.
Many alumni have stated that they weren't informed by the organization about the school's financial problems before the shutdown was announced.
Leila Fujimori, “Saint Francis Alumni Meet and Are Still Hopeful,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, January 11, 2019
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/01/11/hawaii-news/saint-francis-alumni-meet-and-are-still-hopeful/
and more
But many were upset with the announcement and that the Catholic school’s board of directors failed to inform them sooner of its financial troubles, which they were told Thursday had been going on for 1-1/2 to two years.“It caught us off-guard. It’s a sad situation because it’s a part of all of us,” said Sister Frances Therese Souza, a 1961 graduate. “The thought that keeps coming to us is why didn’t they let us know sooner, because if they did, we would have helped. We want to try and help … save it.”
Kanakolu Noa, 36, a 2000 grad, said the board waited too long to inform alumni.She said in order to succeed, the board will need a change in mindset regarding fundraising, and partnerships, both public and private, including businesses and partner schools. She questioned some decisions such as the fundraising committee being told not to call major donors.She said the person heading the board’s fundraising committee had not done much and had been in the role for only a year.Noa said the decision not to tell the community sooner for fear parents and students would get nervous was not in the school’s best interest.“That’s when you activate the community,” said Noa, a former teacher and current manager of strategy development at Kamehameha Schools.Noa said the school could have reached out to Hawaii Independent Schools. She said Saint Louis School and Damien Memorial School also went through similar situations.
This lack of communication is horrible, as its the students who are hurt by this. The students will now have to scramble to find another school for the next school year.
Contrast this to when Saint Louis School was having declining enrollment and financial troubles (circa 2010-2011). The school notified its alumni who came together to donate funds to save the school. Not only was the school saved from a shutdown, but also the enrollment went up, and renovations were done. This is how a school retains the trust of the community.
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I have worked as a substitute teacher on the Saint Francis campus under the private organization Kelly Services. I first went there in August 2012. I was in the high school part of the campus. My first impression was "damn, this is small for a high school campus". It was just one building and a lawn. My mind was so accustomed to large public school campuses that it was a culture shock to experience tiny private school campuses. (I later experienced the same feeling at Maryknoll's high school campus).
The elementary/middle school was in a separate part of campus, and both levels shared the same building. I spent more time with the elementary/middle school part of the campus. The first time I was in the elementary/middle school building, I was in the 4th/5th grade class. It was wonderful.
Kindergarten? When we had recess in the gym, it was just me supervising 3 classes. What a nightmare. The school secretary later apologized for not providing more help.
The middle school classes? One memory was when the regular math teacher came back from a field trip and was horrified by the students not sitting in the correct seats. I apologized to him about the situation, and his response was "they should know".
Another time, one middle schooler claimed to be finished early (with low-quality output) kept making unnecessary comments and was warned repeatedly. I was so angry and yelled at him to go to the office. The following year, one student told me "you remember ______ who you yelled at last year? He's going to be in this class". There he was, causing more trouble. He later told the principal exaggerations about the way I expressed my frustrations towards him and other misbehaving students.
It's been a while since I last been on the campus. I have since moved on away from substitute teaching and towards full-time library work.
I definitely felt a sense of community within the school campus, and it is sad to see it all come to an end. This will definitely be a traumatic thing for all the students who have to find another campus next year. Their hearts will definitely be broken for what was lost!
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More articles on the situation at Saint Francis School
Official announcement from the school's website, posted on February 14, 2019
https://stfrancis-oahu.org/school_closure/
Susan Essoyan, “Saint Francis School in Manoa Will Close Entirely at End of Academic Year,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, February 14, 2019,
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/02/14/breaking-news/saint-francis-school-in-manoa-will-close-entirely-at-end-of-academic-year/
Susan Essoyan, “Financial Woes Lead to Decision to Close Saint Francis School,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, February 15, 2019,
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/02/15/hawaii-news/saint-francis-school-to-close/
On the school's final commencement ceremony
Michael Tsai, “Saint Francis School Celebrates Bittersweet Final Commencement,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 26, 2019,
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/05/26/hawaii-news/the-final-graduating-class-at-95-year-old-saint-francis-school-celebrates-a-bittersweet-commencement-ceremony/
