Overview
- The Archdiocese of Chicago announced on Monday, June 15, that Queen of Martyrs Elementary will not reopen for the 2026–27 school year and will close after this academic year.
- Enrollment has fallen from about 325 students in 2016 to 178 this past year and was projected to be roughly 140 next year, a decline the archdiocese says would create an operating shortfall exceeding $400,000.
- School leaders and local reporting say a personnel scandal earlier this year involving substitute teacher Brett J. Smith — who was fired, faces a civil lawsuit alleging he groomed and inappropriately touched a student, and faces related criminal charges — accelerated family withdrawals.
- The archdiocese pledged to help families find nearby Catholic schools and to support affected faculty and staff through the transition, and local parents and employees are scrambling to arrange fall plans after the June announcement.
- Queen of Martyrs opened in 1953 and had already been affected by parish consolidations, including a 2022 merger into St. Gianna Parish, reflecting a wider trend of suburban Catholic school closures driven by demographic and enrollment shifts.