For 116 years, St. Patrick Catholic School has been an educational cornerstone on Springfield’s east side – a small school with big ambitions for the children it has served.
At the end of this school year, its classrooms will fall silent.
School leaders announced this month that St. Patrick Catholic School, founded in 1910, will close because of long-term financial challenges. But while the building will close, leaders say the school’s mission – providing affordable Catholic education to low-income families – will continue through a new scholarship program for students attending other Catholic schools.
“This decision was made with heavy hearts,” said school board president Erik Woehrmann. “St. Pat’s has been more than a school – it has been a family.”
Today the school serves 52 students, most from working-class families on Springfield’s east side. For decades, it has been one of the city’s only Catholic schools serving a predominantly minority student population and families living at or near poverty.
Unlike other Springfield Catholic elementary schools, St. Patrick’s is run by an independent nonprofit, rather than the diocese, and only educates students through fifth grade rather than eighth grade. The Springfield diocese does own the school building. Andrew Hansen, a spokesman for Bishop Thomas Paprocki, said there are no immediate plans for the building.
Despite its small size, St. Patrick students have consistently performed well academically. Former educators and board members say the school’s success was rooted in its intimate atmosphere and sense of mission.
“You walk through the door and there’s just a sweet spirit there,” said Carolyn Blackwell, a longtime educator and member of the school’s board. “The classes are small, the teachers know the students, and the kids feel loved and respected.”
Most classrooms had between 10 and 15 students, allowing teachers to give individual attention. But Blackwell said the school’s culture mattered just as much as its size.
“It wasn’t just a job for people who worked there,” she said. “It was their passion.”
Parents say that culture made the school feel like an extended family.
“I think it’s more so the staff – the relationship between the staff and the students,” said Latoya Cole-Williams, whose two daughters attend the school. “They hold the kids accountable and make sure they know right from wrong. That’s one thing I just love about the staff.”
Cole-Williams’ oldest daughter is finishing fifth grade and had planned to continue at another Catholic school next year. Now the family is scrambling to decide where both of their children will attend school.
“It’s a big inconvenience,” she said. “I knew I had to save for middle school, but now I have two children I have to pay tuition for.”
The school’s closure comes after years of financial pressure that leaders say finally became unsustainable.
Board members had explored multiple options to keep the school open, including professional fundraising analysis and long-term financial planning. But donations and fundraising events were falling short of what was needed to operate the school.
“Grants were going away, donations were down and some of the regular events weren’t meeting their goals,” Woehrmann said. “At the end of the day, the board had to make a financially responsible decision.”
One of the biggest financial blows came when the Illinois Invest in Kids scholarship program ended, said Sister Marilyn Jean Runkel, a longtime board member who has worked with the school for more than three decades. Every student at St. Patrick’s qualified for the program because of family income levels, she said, meaning the loss translated into roughly $80,000 in annual funding.
The Invest in Kids program provided scholarships to low-income families seeking alternatives to their assigned public schools. At its peak, more than 15,000 students across Illinois received scholarships through the program.
“The scholarships primarily went to students who were low-income and couldn’t otherwise afford schooling options outside of their locally zoned public school,” said Hannah Schmid, manager of education policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
But the program ended in 2023 after lawmakers declined to renew it.
“Unfortunately, the biggest opponents to the program were the teachers’ unions in Illinois, and they have a lot of sway over lawmakers and what happens in Springfield,” Schmid said.
She said unions argued the program threatened public education funding, although the scholarships were funded through tax credits for private donations rather than direct public spending.
“Their public claim was that it diverts funds from public schools,” Schmid said. “But the Invest in Kids program was a tax-credit scholarship. The only cost to the state was foregone income tax revenue.”
Cole-Williams said the scholarship program had made it possible for many families to afford Catholic education.
“That blow – losing that scholarship – was huge,” Runkel said. “If you’re thinking about sending your kids to a private school and there’s already a scholarship available, then yes, families will send their kids there.”
Without that support, she said, keeping enrollment strong became much more difficult.
Even so, Runkel said the school remained academically strong and staffed by dedicated teachers.
“We probably have the best teachers and the best principal we’ve had in years,” she said. “The students are doing phenomenally in their subjects. The discipline is good, the parent involvement is good. … I’ve always called St. Pat’s an icon in Springfield. It’s helped many children who might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.”
School leaders say their immediate focus is helping students transition to new schools next year.
Parents are meeting with staff to discuss options, including continuing in Catholic education or transferring to public schools.
Cole-Williams said one of her biggest concerns is losing the small classes and close relationships that defined the school.
“With St. Pat’s you might have 15 kids in a classroom,” she said. “That personal relationship with the teachers is something we’re really going to miss.”
Although the physical school will close, the nonprofit organization that operates St. Patrick’s will continue. Its focus will shift to a St. Patrick Scholarship Program designed to help low-income students afford Catholic education elsewhere.
The program will be funded through remaining school assets, endowment earnings and continued fundraising.
“Our commitment to this mission does not end here,” Woehrmann said. “Through our scholarship program, we’ll continue investing in students and families.”
Blackwell said that while the closing marks the end of a historic institution, she believes the lessons students learned there will endure.
“Those kids know what they got at St. Pat’s,” she said. “They know how they should be treated and how they should learn.”
For Cole-Williams, the news still feels raw.
“It’s just a huge blow and a huge disappointment,” she said. “I’m literally distraught. I’ve been in deep prayer hoping the decision we make next for our kids will work for our family.”
For many who have been part of St. Patrick’s story, the loss will be deeply felt.
“It really is a love story,” Blackwell said. “Just a precious little place.”
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in March 12-18, 2026.
