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St. Francis of Assisi School in Silver Lake now houses the L.A. Archdiocese Office of Vocations and the Metropolitan Marriage Tribunal, It’s also home to the St. Francis of Assisi religious education office.<\/p>\n
Photo by Monica Rodriguez<\/p>\n
Silver Lake\u2014Gloria E. Morales looks at the former St. Francis of Assisi School building on Maltman Avenue near Sunset Boulevard and sees stillness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s empty. It\u2019s dormant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Morales, a long-time parishioner, would like to see the school reopen or the building repurposed to benefit the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n St. Francis is one of a handful of Eastside Catholic schools that have closed in recent years because of declining enrollment. Across the country, plans have emerged to turn former Catholic schools into everything from\u00a0apartments in Chicago<\/a>\u00a0to a boutique\u00a0hotel in Denver<\/a>. But there are no such plans in the works for any of the shuttered Eastside campuses.<\/p>\n In fact, the former Catholic school and other shuttered Eastside campuses continue to support parish life and education.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Archdiocese of Los Angeles determines the future use of former school properties through a careful, case-by-case evaluation that considers parish needs, financial sustainability, and alignment with its mission of education and community service,\u201d the L.A. Archdiocese said in a statement. \u201cThe Archdiocese prioritizes keeping these properties active and beneficial to the communities they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n While St. Francis may appear unused, the L.A. Archdiocese says the site remains active as the home for the Archdiocese Office of Vocations, which helps men discern a calling to the priesthood, and the Metropolitan Marriage Tribunal, which handles canonical marriage matters such as annulments.<\/p>\n In East Los Angeles, Our Lady of Soledad Catholic School,\u00a0 which closed\u00a0in 2005, later became home to Esperanza College Prep, which is part of the Ednovate charter schools network. The building is currently occupied by\u00a0Encore Arts & Media College Prep,<\/a>\u00a0also part of Ednovate.<\/p>\n
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