Bishop Kearney High School sells yearbooks as school prepares to close

As officials at Bishop Kearney High School prepared to close the school, they are inviting former students to share in the feeling of nostalgia that is engulfing the Bensonhurst educational institution in its final days.

Members of the Bishop Kearney’s alumnae received an email from the school informing them that old yearbooks are currently on sale in the school’s online book store, http://bit.ly/2WVdoqu.

Bishop Kearney High School, a Catholic high school for girls that opened in 1961, is closing its doors forever on Aug. 31.

The last day of classes for students on Tuesday, June 25. Teachers will work their day at the school on Wednesday, June 26. The graduation for the Class of 2019, the last class ever to graduate from the school, took place on Saturday, June 1.

Bishop Kearney High School, which is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, is located at 2202 60th St. Tuition for the 2018-2019 school year was $10,825 per student.

The email officials sent to former students inviting them to purchase yearbooks was a sure sign that life at Bishop Kearney High School is winding down and an effort is underway to clean house.

“Yearbooks from the graduation class years 1965 to 2019 are now on sale on our online book store. Please note — Not all books are in mint condition and they will be sold on a first come, first serve basis,” the email read.

The yearbook title is “Memorare,” the Latin word for remember.

News that Bishop Kearney High School would be closing in August came as a shock to the Southwest Brooklyn education community when it was announced in April.

The school has educated generations of teenage girls since the Kennedy administration.

The school’s closure was officially announced in a letter to students penned by Sister Helen Kearney, the president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood and a member of the school’s board of trustees. Kearney is the niece of the late Bishop Raymond Kearney, the man for whom the school is named.

“For 58 years, dedicated administrators, faculty and staff have proudly served with our sisters in this mission. But today, we are faced with a difficult reality. Over the last few years declining enrollment, changing demographics, reduced income and increased expenses have required cuts in faculty and services,” she wrote, calling the decision to close the school “painful.”

The school is named in memory of Bishop Raymond Kearney (1902-1956), who served as the auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn from 1935 until his death in 1956.

Bishop Kearney High School officials could not be reached for comment.