By Bill Forry

Anticipating that their alma mater is on the brink of closing its doors permanently next year, is group of alumnae from Monsignor Ryan Memorial High School (MRM) are appealing to the Archdiocese of Boston and to the larger Dorchester community to help save the school.

In a letter sent out to MRM graduates last week, the school's Advisory Committee warns that the all-girls high school is in "serious danger of closing its doors forever" at the end of the current school year and further warns that "its closing will have a devastating impact on the students and the families in the area."

MRM is the last remaining all girls Catholic high school in Dorchester- and one of only two still operating in the city of Boston. Founded in 1918, it is operated by the parish of St. Margaret on Columbia Road and this year is serving about 140 students.

Rev. Nicholas Ciccone, Jr., pastor at St. Margaret parish, would not confirm this week that the school is closing, but says that the archdiocese's dire financial problems have forced him to consider a "school plan" which he says will be made public in January 2003.

"We are exploring every ramification of the financial crisis that the Archdiocese is facing regarding the support of the school," Ciccone told the Reporter. "I sent a letter in the fall to our parishioners notifying them that we would have a school plan in place by January."

The crisis facing MRM is linked directly to a decision by the Archdiocese of Boston earlier this year to halt the funding of an annual subsidy worth roughly $420,000 to help administer both MRM and St. Margaret's Grammar School. Ciccone says that he was informed this year that the funding would be wiped out as of 2003. The money was a yearly gift from the Archdiocese of Boston to help the parish with the expense of running both schools. Without that money, Ciccone, admits, it will be difficult to keep both schools open.

Ciccone adds that both the high school and grammar school buildings need extensive and costly renovations. Ciccone says that the grammar school now serves the children of about 80 families from St. Margaret parish.

Karen Donnellan, a Dorchester native and 1984 graduate of MRM, serves on the school's advisory committee. She and a group of about 15 other women have begun meeting weekly to discuss ways to save the school.

"Our biggest concern is that this is it for the inner city when it comes to educating women in a Catholic high school," says Donnellan. "We're taking quite a step back for the education of women in general."

According to Donnellan and other sources at MRM, the students are aware of the probable demise of the school and have appealed to the alumnae for help.

Despite dropping enrollment, particularly from within the parish boundaries, supporters say that morale at MRM is high. Donnellan says that 87 percent of last year's graduating class went on to college.

A faculty member told the Reporter that despite rumors of the shut down, "this has been one of the best years we've ever had in terms of attitude and achievement."

"We're trying to keep the focus on the kids," said one source, who spoke to the Reporter on the condition of anonymity. "The students we have here are here for a reason: it's a safe environment, a neighborhood school, and unfortunately, all the other girls high schools are gone."

Last year, the Archdiocese closed St. Clare's High School in Roslindale, leaving MRM and Brighton's Mount Saint Joseph High School as the city's last two Catholic girls high schools. Another Dorchester Catholic girls high school, St. Gregory's, was closed in 1992.

"The girls really want to save the school," Donnellan told the Reporter this week. "The location is key. We really want to keep it in the neighborhood. A lot of the girls live within a mile radius."

Several sources tell the Reporter that negotiations are ongoing to lease the MRM building on Mayhew Street to a new tenant, bringing in revenue that would help the parish sustain its grammar school on Columbia Road. Another plan to consolidate MRM and the grammar school into one entity has been rejected by the Archdiocese of Boston, sources say.

The school's alumnae hope to rally neighborhood leaders to support the school at a Christmas Open House this Sunday from 2-5 p.m.

"This Sunday's open house is to get alumni together to update them on the situation and see if there is anything that can be done, and to show that the alums are rallying around the school," one organizer said.

Karen Donnellan says the message that should go out to the rest of Dorchester is that, "We need help."

"We need to have a voice and tell the community that we can't do this alone. One of the girls came by our meeting last week and said, 'Please help us.' We just couldn't say no."

Thirteenth Suffolk district State Rep. Marty Walsh, reached for comment this week, says he is "very concerned" about the possibility of MRM closing. A number of his friends, cousins and colleagues have attended the school, and Walsh says, closing its doors "is not the answer."

"I don't think the archdiocese has done a fair job trying to keep it open," Walsh says. "My hat goes off to Fr. Nick (Ciccone) for trying to keep it open. But I certainly know the archdiocese has not put any commitment into MRM.

Its another case of the Archdiocese taking the easy way out.

"They should be committed to it because it's an inner city school with a long, rich history of graduating very successful women and I would like to see it continue," Walsh says.

If the school does close, it would be the latest setback for Catholic education in Dorchester. Over the summer, the pastor at St. Ambrose in Fields Corner cut the top three grades from the parish grammar school, citing financial problems.