Mount Carmel High School to remain all-boys after board rejects proposal to go co-ed

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mount Carmel High School announced Tuesday that has decided against going co-ed and will remain an all-boys' school.

Mount Carmel, at 6410 S. Dante Ave. in the Woodlawn neighborhood, announced in June that it was considering going co-ed – a plan that would potentially have involved admitting girls beginning in the fall of 2023.

The school's leaders and board of directors held listening sessions and distributed surveys on the subject to parents, students, employees, alumni, and donors throughout the summer. Overwhelmingly, the feedback the school received was that those stakeholders wanted Mount Carmel to remain an all-boys' school.

"Therefore, Mount Carmel will continue its all-male tradition and remain true to its mission, 'Zeal for God, zeal for life, zeal for learning,'" the school said.

The school stakeholders said an all-male school would benefit future generations by offering young men the opportunity to form bonds and friendship as they learn together. The school also said attracting girls to Mount Carmel would have been a "daunting challenge."

"It is time to look ahead to a bright future," Mount Carmel High School Board Chair Don Barry said in a news release. "As we move forward, it is our goal to continue to ensure the brightest possible future for our young men."

In announcing in June that it was considering going co-ed, Mount Carmel noted that growth has been "elusive" for single-gender Catholic schools in the Chicago archdiocese, and meanwhile, fewer students are coming out of Catholic elementary schools. Mount Carmel said it attracts students from numerous Catholic, public, and private schools alike, and leaders have noted that co-ed Catholic high schools are the ones seeing the growth.

But the board said even though the demographics for enrollment for all-boys' schools are changing, Mount Carmel "has the advantage of addressing its needs before becoming victim to those demographics."

School leaders said the need for the kind of educational environment Mount Carmel offers has not changed since the school opened in 1900 – " scholarly and athletic pursuits, social growth, and religious faith, in a place where a boy learns to become a man."

"We often talk with faculty about becoming the premier all-male school in Chicago, in the Midwest, and in the United States," Mount Carmel High School President Brendan Conroy said in the release. "We aspire to that, and we will relentlessly pursue enrollment growth, increased alumni engagement, and our ability to raise funds necessary for a thriving future. Our Mount Carmel community has spoken. We will need everyone to help us achieve those goals."