St Paul Private School Ends Nearly 120 Years of Educating

After more than a century of educating the minds of Saint Paul children, St. Bernard's High School will close at the end of the school year.

School leaders blame financial troubles for the closing. Like many inner-city Catholic schools, St. Bernard's has struggled the past 15 years to stay afloat. It closed its grade school last year.

German and Austrian immigrants who settled in Saint Paul's North End neighborhood founded St. Bernard's parish in 1890. They opened the grade school the next year. By 1957, a growing student body and demand prompted the opening of St. Bernard's High.

The neighborhood changed over the years as families moved to the suburbs. Fewer residents choose Catholic private schools and growing competition from charter schools were also contributing factors to the school's demise.

The school is celebrated its 119th year Monday.