St. Mary's Catholic School in Wappingers Falls is closing at the end of this school year and so is St. Peter's Regional Catholic School in Liberty.

According to a spokesperson from the Archdiosese of New York, enrollment is down to 118 at St. Mary's — which offers kindergarten through eigth grade education.

The principal at St. Peter’s Regional in Liberty says 42 students are enrolled at the school — which offers kindergarten and pre-k education.

The news shocked many in Wappingers Falls, especially since the school just celebrated its 125th anniversary last week, at a ceremony where Wappingers Falls Mayor Matt Alexander praised the school, calling it a "pillar of the community."

"When I first heard about [the school closing] it was just completely out of the blue," said Vincent Gesmundo, who lives directly in front of St. Mary's. 

Timothy Dolan the Archbishop of New York, said in a video message to students and family that it is not feasible to keep operating St. Mary's, St. Peter's, and five other catholic schools in the state.

Dolan said several facilities at those schools have gone unused and/or need repair, and there are not enough students paying tuition to solve those problems.

A few more enrollees would have made a difference.

"If we had ten percent more kids in each of those schools, they wouldn't be closing," Dolan said.

The Archbishop also took a moment toward the end of his video message to put some blame on Albany.

"We don't get a dime of money from the government to support our wonderful schools," Dolan said. "I'm going to get letters of protest from the politicians [saying], 'Why are you closing this school in my district?' I'm going to say back to him or her, because you haven't helped us in the past to get the money that is ours by justice."

Several sources put the total number of teachers and staff affected at about 30. A spokesperson for the Archdiosese said job placement assistance for those employees begins next week.