St. John Neumann Regional School will open again this fall, the Diocese of Allentown announced in a news release Tuesday.

The school came under study in March, just before the coronavirus caused a statewide shutdown. The study, requested by the three parishes that support St. John Neumann, determined whether or not the school could reopen for the 2020-21 academic year.

The last remaining Catholic school in Carbon County, declining enrollment at St. John Neumann was one factor motivating the study. But Tuesday’s news release said those numbers are set to increase next year.

The school, with campuses in Slatington and Palmerton, plans to take from its savings to operate for another year.

Principal Mary Comensky has been a champion of the school. She said Tuesday, “Thank you to all of our families, teachers, staff, students and pastors for their unwavering support of SJNRS!!! We are so blessed to be able to continue providing Catholic education to Carbon County and beyond! Through the intercession of St. John Neumann, we will be open for the coming school year!”

Delia Apollo, whose daughter, Elliena Apollo, is a sixth-grader at St. John, said she, like other parents, is “really happy” the school will stay open, especially in the face of the pandemic.

“I think it’s nice that even though they’re not going to school every day,” Apollo said, “they still have the St. John Neumann family to kind of fall back on.

“I don’t know if the school is going to go back to the way school was in September,” she continued. “But I know the school’s been great at conforming to the situation and coming up with alternative ways to make everything work.”

Further fundraising by the St. John Neumann Home & School Association will be vital to the school’s future, a reality parents quickly realized after the initial study was announced. The association started brainstorming ways to bring in money at their March meeting.

When pastors from the parishes that keep St. John Neumann open prompted the diocese to look into the school two months ago, the Revs. William Campion, of Sacred Heart; Eric Arnout, of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and Adam Sedar, of St. Nicholas, pointed out that 60% of St. John Neumann’s students are members of either Sacred Heart, Assumption or St. Nicholas.

The churches have also seen a drop in infant baptisms.

Because of this, the letter states, support not just from the priests, but also the congregants of these churches will be critical for the school’s survival; the subsidies St. John Neumann gets from the parishes make up one-third of its budget.

St. John Neumann’s is slated to open its doors again on Aug. 31.