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CREVE COEUR — Dozens of students and their families protested outside St. Monica Catholic School on Friday, three weeks after learning the school will be permanently closed later this month.

“We’re really disappointed in how the archdiocese has handled this,� said Julie Terlep, who has three children at the school. “We had a plan to turn things around, and it was looking really bright. This has shaken our faith.�

ºüÀêÊÓƵ Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski said April 19 that St. Monica school has to close later this month because of “inconsistent and declining enrollment.â€� About 120 students had registered for next year.

Earlier this week, school leaders filed an appeal of the school’s closure to Rozanski under canon, or church law. Parishioners believe the closure is objectionable because it was not supported by St. Monica’s pastor, the Rev. Sebastian Mundackal, according to school board president Chris Miller.

In a survey of parents after the closure announcement, 86% said they wanted to fight to save the school, parishioners said. The parish recently hired a new principal and raised nearly $500,000 in donations and pledges to subsidize the school for at least one more year.

On Friday, students walked outside the church on Olive Boulevard just west of Interstate 270, waving signs and chanting, “Save our school� while parents and grandparents prayed the Rosary in the parking lot.

St. Monica joins St. Roch in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Little Flower in Richmond Heights as the first grade schools to close under the archdiocese’s “All Things Newâ€� downsizing to address declining numbers of Catholics, priests and schoolchildren.

More than half of the 82 parish grade schools in the archdiocese have fewer than 200 students, considered a benchmark for viability. At St. Monica’s peak in the 1960s, there were more than 700 students.

The 25 to 30 smallest parish schools were required in February to submit three-year feasibility plans for raising funds and enrollment. St. Monica’s plan was rejected by the archdiocese, Mundackal told parishioners in a letter last month.

“It’s so difficult and painful to share this news with you. So many of us have worked hard to provide all the information and proof of support for the school to show the Archdiocese that St. Monica School should remain open,� Mundackal wrote.

But on May 3, the pastor sent another letter that said he will not support “counterproductive� efforts to appeal the decision.

“Many of you have communicated to me your hurt and in some cases your disagreement and anger with the announcement that the school will close. These reactions are normal and, because I care deeply about your well-being, I share that pain with you,� Mundackal wrote. “At this point we stand at a crossroad. We can either move forward in a positive spirit and focus on building a vibrant parish community, or we can allow anger to lead us further into negativity.�

Parents said the closest Catholic school, Incarnate Word in Chesterfield, does not have any space for transfer students.

Some St. Monica students at the rally have enrolled in public schools in the Parkway and Rockwood districts for next year, while others will attend Holy Spirit in Maryland Heights, Our Lady of the Pillar in Creve Coeur or Immanuel Lutheran in Olivette.

Several seventh grade classmates said they will be “devastated� to miss graduating from St. Monica next year.

“I don’t get to spend my eighth grade year with all my best friends,� said Mary Damazyn, 13. “This school has been a home for me since I was six years old.�