Daniel Murphy High School in Los Angeles will close its doors at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced Oct. 5.

Archdiocesan officials said the decision to close the all-boys school was hastened by a decade-long decline in enrollment, combined with increased operating costs and serious financial challenges faced by the archdiocese. The school was subsidized by the archdiocese.

"Despite efforts to increase student enrollment over the past ten years, the student population has continued to decline, and is now down to 231 students," said Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the archdiocese in a written release. "A further decline in enrollment would have resulted in the cutting back of the curriculum, negatively impacting the school's ability to offer a quality education to the students. This prospect, combined with the severe financial challenges now facing the archdiocese, accelerated the decision to close the school in 2008."

The archdiocese will assist students in transferring to --- and faculty and staff in finding work at --- other Catholic schools. Still, the news of closure left students and faculty "heartbroken," said Sharon Dandorf, school principal.

"Most of the boys walked away in tears. Most of the faculty was in tears," Dandorf told The Tidings. "We're so sad. We're shocked. We're devastated."

Largely a commuter school, the Daniel Murphy school community prided itself in its ethnic and cultural diversity with its mix of Hispanic, Filipino, other Asian, African American and white student body. Many students came from low-income families.

Nancy Coonis, superintendent of secondary schools for the archdiocesan Office of Education, personally spoke with the faculty and the student body Oct. 5. Students were then given a letter to give to their parents, and letters were mailed to parents as well.

"It was really a sad day, I have to say," said Coonis. "When it's a small school like this, they are really attached."

In response to Daniel Murphy's closing, Coonis said that principals at other Catholic high schools have said they will do all they can to welcome transferring students.

"We're very concerned that everyone be able to enroll in a Catholic school," she said.

However, because Daniel Murphy was subsidized by the archdiocese, tuition was among the lowest of area Catholic high schools at $5,100 annually. Tuition at other schools in the Los Angeles area ranges from $5,000 to $9,700.

Coonis said a special fund is being set up to assist students and their families to afford the tuition at other Catholic schools. Archdiocesan officials are contacting Catholic foundations to assist with the need.

"This announcement is coming early in the school year, so we have a lot of time to make sure we can put together the transfers and the financial situation for these young men," said Coonis, whose office will coordinate the effort.

Some 177 students will need to move to other schools as the rest will graduate next spring. Several schools students might consider include St. Bernard in Playa Del Rey, Cathedral or Loyola in Los Angeles, Bishop Mora Salesian in East Los Angeles and Verbum Dei in South Los Angeles.

On Nov. 7 Daniel Murphy will host representatives from area Catholic high schools to provide information about their schools and admissions and financial applications.

Daniel Murphy High School for boys was founded by the archdiocese in 1954 as St. John Vianney High School. The name change came with the completion of the current building at Third and Detroit Streets in 1966. At that time 502 boys were enrolled in the school.

However, over the years demographics changed and the area has become more commercial. The upscale and popular outdoor shopping mall The Grove is less than a mile from the school. Expensive nearby condominiums have been drawing retirees and single professionals, while many families with children are moving outside of Los Angeles to find affordable housing, said Coonis. Families that stayed in the area have sustained a large Orthodox Jewish population.

"There are not a lot of families close to the school that would choose a Catholic high school," said Coonis. "Families come from a little further away," at times because parents work in L.A.

The 23 faculty and administrative staff will also lose their jobs at Daniel Murphy as of June. 1. Tamberg said the archdiocese would assist teachers and staff to find other Catholic high schools in which to work.

"Our focus in the coming months will be on placing the freshmen, sophomores and juniors in other available Catholic high schools, as well as finding new positions for the faculty and staff," Tamberg emphasized. "Sometime in early 2008 discussions will begin about the various future options and alternative uses for the school property."