Keep The Academy of Our Lady of Peace, New Providence Open

AOLP needs to stay open. Please consider making it a regional school.

Please the lines of communication, in order that both sides are heard and given a voice.

AOLP has been my daughter's second home for 6 years and she is devastated that her school is closing. AOLP has been a safe secure place for her to learn and make lifelong friends. My daughter lost her father when she was 7 years old and the teachers and principal have taken care of her like she is their child. We are all dealing with so much uncertainty with this pandemic, I can't believe our children now have to deal with losing their school. Please find a way to keep AOLP open and let our children be together with the teachers they love. They should neve have to experience the feeling of the Arch Diocese abandoning them.

We ask with grieving hearts that the Archdiocese reconsider their decision to close The Academy of Our Lady of Peace. Extremely disappointed in the way this was handled, definitely not in the best interest of our children.

I am a student at AOLP and I have been there since I was in PreK 3. My sister is now in PreK 4 and we are sad about the school closing. We like it there and have many friends there. Please do not close my school! I love it there!

My wife is the first grade teacher and our two daughters attend AOLP; we were completely blindsided by this. Our girls have thrived in the friendships and spiritual guidance of the school community. It is never a good time to close a school, but to have this decision announced during this time is heartbreaking.

Save the school for the children's sake.

Too many people and children will suffer from this.

please keep this school open, our grandchildren need a Catholic education.

What the Archdiocese is doing is unfair and detrimental to growing the Catholic faith. Our students attended a school of the archdiocese of Patterson and once they closed, we were reassured without any shadow of a doubt that the way the financial system worked here, there was no way the school would close. Three years later, we are now getting told differently. They should hold true to their word. The more Catholic schools that close, the more families refuse to continue as active members of the Parish and the faith. It will continue to deter the attendance and participation of catholics in their faith.

It seems to me that the Archdiocese has abandoned its mission of making "Disciples" and providing our children with a Catholic education. The shortsightedness of this decision has put the Catholic Church and its teachings in jeopardy. While our faith in Jesus is strong, our faith in the people who represent him has been shattered.

Please keep this school open.

As a graduate of OLP, I know first hand the excellent education that every child receives at the school which is matched only by the unbounded love shown by each of teachers and administrators. As an alumni, but even more, as a Catholic, I am appalled with the Archdiocese's decision to close the school, especially with such short notice. The decision to surprise everyone, families and teachers alike, so late in the school year during one of the most unprecedentedly difficult times in World history is simply unfathomable to me. The fact that men who claim to be doing God's work could make such a decision in the deeply inconsiderate way they did shakes my faith to the core. I challenge these "people of God" to put their money where their mouths are and strongly consider the consequences of their actions. I am angry, but I am also grateful for the incredible community that is uniting for this cause. If the Archdiocese comes to its senses, it will realize what it is losing if it closes OLP.

Please keep AOLP open!!! It should not close during a pandemic. People don’t need additional stress at a time like this. The school will deeply be missed!!!

6 years ago Featured

The way this was handled by the archdiocese is awful and completely unprofessional. Where are the Catholic values the archdiocese is said to uphold? So disappointed by this decision. This school deserves better than this. Keep OLP open, it’s not all about the money.

The Academy of Our Lady of Peace is an incredibly warm and supportive place where our six children have grown and thrived in their faith and in their education. Four of our older children are now in prestigious universities as a direct result of how AOLP nurtured, guided, and supported them. I work for a large company and have been involved in many of the decisions about how to care for our people and manage the financial disaster that this horrible pandemic has put on all of us. This decision by the Archdiocese is by far the most selfish and insensitive display of greed that I have seen anywhere in corporate America. If the Archdiocese needs to close the school due to financial considerations...I get it. There is a way to do that that is reasonable, humane, and consistent with the Christian principles that are celebrated everyday at AOLP. The way this was done...which is to surprise everyone at the end of the year, after the application deadline for many schools has passed, and while we are in a pandemic lockdown with no ability to "shop" around for other schools puts us in a rather hopeless situation....and to do that at a time when we are confined to our homes, stress is through the roof, and mental health challenges are at an all time high seems just cruel. What kind of example are you providing for our children...you are scaring them needlessly. To say that I am disappointed in the leadership of the Archdiocese is an unbelievable understatement. It is hard for me to imagine the conversations where anyone, especially men of God, decided that this was a good idea. What would Jesus do? Certainly not this.

After serving this community for twenty years, I have seen this amazing community grow. These families have offered so many positive ideas to keep the Academy open only to be turned down and not entertained downtown. This school offers more then they could possibly know. At this time In society, what is being done to these children and families is in fathomable and unchristian! Give us a chance to continue to educate and build our school rather then turn them away. This is one of the many reasons people are walking away from the church! It is time to step up and help us rebuild our faith. Keep the Academy of Our Lady of Peace open!

My wife is a math teacher at AOLP. Every night for years I have watched her work well past 11:00pm every night of the week. When it was announced on a Friday in March that the school would be closed due to Covid-19, she spent the weekend learning about and setting up Zoom so that she could continue to teach on Monday and she has done just that every weekday since. Obviously she has not done all this for the money. She's done it to help her students because she truly cares about them. When the archdiocese showed her how much it cares about her and her students during teacher appreciation week, it was devastating. I hope this horrible decision is reversed.

The Archdiocese of Newark has failed our students, faculty and parents in their lack of preparation and dubious timing. The Academy of Our Lady of Peace deserves to remain open for numerous reasons but most importantly, because of the faculty's unconditional devotion to our children's spiritual well being and academic success. I implore the Archdiocese not to abandon our Christian principles by leaving our children, faculty, and administrators without a school or job during a time of uncertainty when our faith has already been tested.

This is awful. So many wonderful well educated loving teachers out of jobs. A great home to many students and alumni gone. We need to make this right!