On Tuesday, October 3, Boston College purchased the 23-acre campus and convent of the recently closed Mount Alvernia High School for $40.5 million, according to the Boston Globe. This Catholic girls' school, spanning grades seven to twelve, had to shut down due to significant enrollment decline.
The school and its property situated at 790 Centre Street, Newton, since 1972, was a part of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception's establishment. With a first graduating class of just eight students from a Manet Road location back in 1939, the school and its convent have enjoyed ties with Boston College for over 85 years. In the face of shutting down the school and selling the property, the Franciscan sisters turned to the Jesuit-run university, hoping to keep the property within a Catholic educational framework, according to a statement on the college’s official website.
This acquisition follows a recent trend of Catholic high schools announcing closures across Brighton, was Cambridge, Newton, and Fall River due to strained finances and falling enrollments. The spring before last, the convent was down to just 11 Franciscan sisters from 25 in 2018. Additionally, school enrollment had been decreasing for 15 years. The Franciscan Sisters explained in a letter the financial symbiosis between the high school and the sisters at the Centre Street location, explaining its unsustainability, as per the Boston Globe.
Amid the sale, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller of Newton expressed her interest in possibly acquiring the property for the city. Unfortunately, she received no response from the Franciscan sisters. Upon learning of the university's acquisition, Fuller affirmed the importance of the school as a neighbor in the Newton community and expressed her eagerness to learn about Boston College's plans for the property, as reported by the Boston Globe.
Located across the street from the newly acquired campus is Boston College Law School, coupled with freshman dormitories. Jack Dunn declined to to provide specific details about the university's plans for the property, but expressed the intention to use it for educational and administrative purposes, according to the Boston Globe. The property, consisting of three buildings and one garage, amounts to a total of 73,850 gross square feet, directly opposite Boston College's Newton Campus, as mentioned on the college’s website.
