Ursuline Preschool & Kindergarten to Close

After 60 years of quality education, I am sorry to announce that Ursuline Preschool & Kindergarten will close at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. The Ursuline Sisters Mission Board and the Leadership Team of the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown made this decision after considering all available options.

When Ursuline Preschool & Kindergarten opened in the fall of 1963, it was staffed by Ursuline Sisters to make a Catholic program available when there was no comparable preschool program in the area. For 60 years, thousands of children and generations of families have had the experience of attending UPSK. The Sisters and lay teachers who have staffed and directed the program have served the school with distinction. We are incredibly proud of the work and commitment of the current administration and staff.

But in 2023, there is a different reality. Income received through tuition does not cover the educational expenses of the school. The Ursuline Sisters have long underwritten the cost of UPSK. This subsidy has been provided in a variety of ways: through a very modest stipend paid to Sisters, little rent payment for the use of the facility which the Ursuline Sisters built, and, in recent years, improving wages and benefits for teachers and assistants.

The Ursuline Sisters are no longer able to shoulder this expense. Moreover, parents today have numerous options for preschool and kindergarten education, including the Early Childhood Learning Centers at several Catholic parishes in the area (St. Christine, St. Joseph, St. Charles, St. Luke, and Holy Family).

The administration and staff of Ursuline Preschool & Kindergarten will continue to provide a quality education through the end of this school year. We are grateful to the UPSK families for their support of our administration and staff, and to each other during this difficult time. We will also provide information and referrals for other Catholic schools.

Further, we thank parents for entrusting their children to the care of Ursuline Preschool & Kindergarten. While we are saddened at the closing of the school, we are consoled by the good that has been the heritage of UPSK since 1963.

Sister Mary McCormick
General Superior, Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown
Chair, Ursuline Sisters Mission Board