A local Catholic elementary school in East Moline will be closing at the end of the school year.
In a press release, the Diocese of Peoria's Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) announced that Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy will be ending operation at the end of the 2021-2022 school year amid a wider restructuring of Catholic education in Rock Island County.
The plan, which cements Jordan Catholic School and Seton Catholic School as the two Catholic Pre K-8 schools in the Rock Island Vicariate (Catholic district), was approved by Bishop Tylka.
OCS says that the principals of Seton and Jorden will provide information to OLGCA families after East, including tours of the schools and details about each school like tuition, transportation, curriculum, extracurriculars, and more.
"As we enter into the most holy time of the year with Holy Week, the Triduum, and Easter next week, the timing of this communication is not optimum," says Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sharon Weiss. "However, it is the desire of the Office of Catholic Schools to be transparent in sharing this important news now that decisions have been made. The beauty and love that we witness as Christ Himself gives to us in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection may hopefully help us understand that endings offer to us new beginnings."
The move comes amid wider discussion in the OCS about Catholic school and parish operations in the COVID-19 era.