YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown’s preschool and kindergarten programs will close at the end of the school year.

The closure was announced on the Ursuline Sisters’ website in a post made by Sister Mary McCormick, General Superior of the Ursuline Sisters and chair of its Mission Board.

The program has been in place since 1963.

McCormick said that the closure was necessary as the income received through tuition does not cover the educational expenses of the school.

“We don’t have new members, and so the median age of the Earth’s ancestors is about 80, which means we have as many people over 80 as we do under 80, and so we don’t have new people that are coming in. That certainly does make a difference, ” McCormick said.

McCormick went on to explain in the website post that The Ursuline Sisters have been underwriting the cost of the preschool.

“This subsidy has been provided in a variety of ways: through a very modest stipend paid to Sisters, little rent payment for the use of the facility which the Ursuline Sisters built, and, in recent years, improving wages and benefits for teachers and assistants,” the post read.

“The Ursuline Sisters are no longer able to shoulder this expense. Moreover, parents today have numerous options for preschool and kindergarten education, including the Early Childhood Learning Centers at several Catholic parishes in the area (St. Christine, St. Joseph, St. Charles, St. Luke and Holy Family).”

Education will continue through the end of this school year, and information and referrals will be provided for other Catholic schools.

“… we thank parents for entrusting their children to the care of Ursuline Preschool & Kindergarten. While we are saddened at the closing of the school, we are consoled by the good that has been the heritage of UPSK since 1963,” the post read.