3 Catholic schools prep to become 1

SOUTH BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Starting this fall, Notre Dame Academy will be the only Pre-K through eighth grade Catholic School in South Buffalo.

At this open house, parents and students from the soon-to-be-closed Ambrose and Trinity Catholic Academies had a chance to ask questions, and explore what will soon be their new academic and social home.

Notre Dame Academy Principal Kimberly Suminski said, "Within those three campuses, we've always tried to strive for community. And we're looking forward to just bringing everyone together as a family again."

Change, however, isn't always easy. Some parents are concerned about class sizes, and how their children will adjust to a new setting.

Susan Herrmann from Ambrose said, "If they don't double up the classes - like when we were going to school, way back when, there were two eighth grades, two fifth grades - they were hoping to put, like, 30 per class. Right now, 12 are in his class."

"He's already adapted to his school that he is [in] now; he's only in Kindergarten. And we live almost on the other side of South Buffalo. So now we've got to come all the way over here. It's going to be a bus way earlier in the morning than what he's used to getting up," said Jeff Conrad from Trinity.

Martiana Lawicki can sympathize with their anxiety. She and her daughter have been through not one - but two - school consolidations. And Lawicki says, she couldn't be happier with how things worked out.

"Here at Notre Dame, they make it so easy. And everybody makes you feel so welcome. The teachers are excellent," Lawicki said.

Principal Suminski added, "We want to make sure that the student is going to the place that will meet their needs. So whether they come to Notre Dame Academy, or whether they go to another school, it has to be the right fit, and they have to be comfortable."

Notre Dame offers tuition assistance. Bus service is available all children who live in the City of Buffalo. New study skills and art courses are being added next year.

Details of how the merger will affect staff levels are still being worked out.