Nicole and JP Adams of Lisbon Falls, back, stand with their children in front of Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn on Aug. 3. In front, from left, are Thomas, Madeline, Gabrielle and Joseph. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)

For many parents and children, school begins next week.

Saint Dominic Academy parents, though, have had the extra challenge of finding new schooling options for their high-schoolers after the Catholic Diocese of Portland announced the Auburn-based high school’s closure earlier this year.

In late March, Bishop James Ruggieri announced that the high school was closing due to financial issues, and the middle school would be moved to the Lewiston campus starting this upcoming school year. The announcement left many high school families feeling like they had little time to consider alternative school options for their teens.

Nicole Adams of Lisbon Falls said the decision to close the school was “devastating,” and wonders if the community could have rallied to raise funds to save the high school from closing had the bishop announced the financial issues earlier in the school year, she said.

“We’re definitely a hard-working community that, given the time, could have redirected the ship,” she said.

Statements from the diocese indicate leaders did not anticipate closing the school until early in 2025.

“As the budget process, which includes an analysis of expenses, enrollment and cash-flow deficits, progressed in March it became clear that it would not be financially feasible for the diocese to continue to run the high school,” diocese spokesperson Molly DiLorenzo said Tuesday.

The church recognizes the pain and upheaval the decision to close the school has caused students and families but it is grateful to other high schools that will be accommodating Saint Dominic students, the diocese said.

Cheverus High School, a private Catholic school in Portland, is taking 24 Saint Dominic students, including 12 seniors, also providing financial aid and transportation, the diocese said. There were 137 students being served by the high school last spring when the closure was announced.

Adams’ son will be attending Cheverus as a senior this year; her daughter will be a sophomore at Lisbon High School.

Coming to the decision was not an easy one. All options were on the table, including public, private and homeschooling, she said. Her children gave their input and preferences, which she ultimately went with.

She wishes she had more time to think about alternative school options. Instead she felt like she had to rush to find new schools, all while coping with the emotions of losing a high school that several generations of her family have attended, she said.

Julie Booker, the parent of two Saint Dominic teens going into their junior and freshmen years, originally sent her children to St. Dom’s because she wanted them to have a Catholic education to reinforce the faith being practiced at home, she said.

“It was a place they could hear about God and pray with their friends and pray every day and hear theology in theology classes and just grow in their faith,” she said.

She also feels that with more time, the community could have come up with a solution to the high school’s closure. She said she thinks the new school board could have come together sooner and been able to keep the high school open this upcoming school year had the closure been made public earlier.

A new nonprofit board was formed quickly after the bishop’s announcement last spring and took fast action to raise funds in the hopes of negotiating with the diocese for a “bridge year” that would give the board time to take the high school private, but those negotiations fell through.

Members of the new nonprofit board still intend to take over the high school and hope to run it as an official Catholic school for the 2026-27 school year.

In the meantime, parents and this coming year’s high school seniors are upset that they will miss out on being able to compete for valedictorian, salutatorian and other top honors that most seniors enjoy because they are enrolling in new schools so late in their high school careers.

And students not enrolling in another Catholic school may also not be eligible for college scholarships through the Roman Catholic Church, which are only available to students who graduate from a Catholic school.

Adams is unsure if colleges are going to look favorably or unfavorably at her son’s academic record after transferring to a new school so late in his high school career, she said. She and Booker both empathized with students who were in the running for high class rankings or involved in extracurricular school activities and sports, who might now lose their rankings, have to try out again or not be able to captain a team.

“It’s devastating to these students,” Adams said. “You build yourself over four years and to get to the end of it and just have it ripped from you. Whether it be the valedictorian of your class or you just were named … president of the Key Club, president of Student Senate, captain of your sports teams. Now you’re transferring your senior year and all those things you worked for, those leadership roles, they’re all stripped from you.”

Nicole and JP Adams, right, walk down the driveway Aug. 3 with their children at Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn. From left are Thomas, Gabrielle, Madeline and Joseph. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer)

AN EMOTIONAL TOLL

One thing is clear to Adams though. This year’s seniors transferring out of Saint Dominic will have a strong, unique experience to use for their college essays, she said.

Her daughter’s attendance at Lisbon High School will be the family’s first experience with the public school system, which brings its own set of concerns, she said. Adams is concerned about what her daughter might be exposed to but feels the incoming sophomore has good sensibilities to navigate her way through situations as they come up.

Booker, who is also from Lisbon, does not know if her children will find the kind of community and sense of belonging starting over at another school that they felt at Saint Dominic, she said. She is also concerned about her son getting enrolled in all the classes he needs coming into a new school, with the Saint Dominic high school closure announcement coming so late last school year.

“We never had to worry as parents, my husband and I, because they were so happy there, they had everything set, like they were good, we didn’t have to worry about things. So it’s a lot,” she said.

The school closure announcement has also taken an emotional toll on families and students, some of whom hail from generations of Saint Dominic graduates.

Booker’s family has experienced a range of emotions, including sadness, fear, anxiety, confusion, disappointment and anger, she said.

“It’s gut-wrenching to see your kids suffer when they probably didn’t need to,” she said.

Adams’ son would have been the fourth generation of her family to graduate from Saint Dominic and he feels like he is in mourning over the school’s closure, she said. There is a sense of family, and connection and comfort, she said, that comes with attending a small private school, and her two oldest children do not have that this school year because of the uncertainty behind the closure announcement.

They too have mourned the loss of their high school, she said. Her daughter was at softball practice when she got the news and was able to sit with her coaches who listened to her. Her son has gone through a volley of emotions from devastation to anger.

“Everything they’ve known was just ripped away from them,” she said. “The last day of school, it wasn’t watching a ‘Yay, last day of school.’ It looked like these kids were leaving a funeral. The amount of tears … it was heartbreaking. It was absolutely heartbreaking.”

If the new school board reopens the high school, Adams intends to send her kids there, but unfortunately it will be after her son graduates high school, she said.

Booker thinks her kids will ultimately be OK at their new schools, but there is a lot they will miss out on because of having to transfer to a new school. And she has worked to keep their faith up, as well, she said.

“This really makes you question your faith — when the people that you go to to help educate them is closing the door,” she said. “So, as a parent, to try to keep their faith going is also a struggle.”

The Portland diocese has encouraged families and students to reach out to their faith leaders for support.

“For those students and families looking for support in their faith journeys, we encourage engagement with their respective pastors and parish communities,” the diocese said Tuesday. “St. Dominic Academy’s chaplain continues to be available to those who are struggling with these questions of faith.

Booker is committed to keeping up the faith and hope there will be a way to keep Catholic education at the high school level going locally, she said. The school means too much to the local Catholic community to just give up.

“I think our faith, our school, our community is still strong and vibrant,” she said. “…  I just feel our faith in our community and these kids are worth fighting for.”