SAN ANTONIO — St. Gerard is an inner-city Catholic high school that’s empowered students on the Eastside of San Antonio since 1927. But for years, students have moved to suburban school districts. So after 95 years, the Archdiocese is closing the campus, forcing students to move on.

“St. Gerard was… is like family to me,” Mia Landeros said. “They’re my second home.”

Mia was ready to start her sophomore year at St. Gerard High School.

“Played volleyball, bowling, basketball, softball,” the rising sophomore said.

But that won’t be happening for her or the other 35 students who’d already enrolled for the 2022-23 school year.

In a statement, the archdiocese of San Antonio said, “St. Gerard’s has for some time been faced with the challenging reality of very low enrollment and concerns over having enough financial support to sustain operations of the school.”

So, they’ve made the difficult decision to close the school.

“It’s a big deal for me because it’s the only Catholic school on the eastside,” Landeros said. “It’s more safer. [They] had smaller classes so they can end up helping you.”

Mia said she heard rumors about the school shutting down. But after going to St. Gerard for the last four years, she’s having to go back to public school.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to public school,” she said. “I’m so used to smaller classes; us freshman had eight students.”

The Archdiocese said the projected operations deficit was more than half a million dollars. And for several years, they’d provided the school with large subsidies that they can no longer sustain.

“I wasn’t that surprised,” Mia said. “I had the feeling that was going to happen. But it was sad to see it was going to close.”