Corpus Christi School fights for life

Corpus Christi School in Jennings is one of only two Roman Catholic grade schools in St. Louis County with majority black enrollments. Its home parish suffers from a steadily declining membership and a dwindling bank account.

"We serve African-American families from all over, and I think we need to be preserved for that reason alone," said Karen Szydlowski, the principal. "What we are is a mission school."

Lucia Signorelli, a member of the North County study group, said she wishes it could be saved. But she said there are other numbers that present a dim future for the school and parish.

The parish, meanwhile, has lost 76 percent of its members since 1990, and most of those who remain are elderly, she said.

Only about 20 percent of the school's students are Catholic.

Since 2001, the parish has averaged 24 funerals and three baptisms each year. Sunday collections are down 16 percent in the same period.

The parish is dying a slow death, and 80% of students at the school are not Catholic.
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