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With the 2023-34 school year, St. Mary Catholic School in Orange is transitioning to a pre-K3 to fifth grade campus.

“The enrollment for grades sixth through eighth has declined leading to this decision,” a release from the school said Friday. “The school staff, board of directors and school parents were notified of the change by letter this afternoon.”

Dr. Felicia Nichols, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Beaumont, said in a letter to the St. Mary Catholic School community that this was not an easy decision, but “one that needed to be made for the vitality of the school.”

“This is not an end, but a new beginning for the Orange community with renewed energy and vibrancy,” Nichols continued.

In the letter Nichols said she and the new principal, Sister Mary Benedicta Maier, are preparing for a successful school year for the students and are working to grow the enrollment.

Over the next two years the superintendent and administration plan to use specific benchmarks to assess the status of reinstituting the middle school program in the coming years.

St. Mary School opened in October 1924 and has served the Orange community for nearly 100 years educating countless students.