The date is Wednesday, February 13, 2025, and the atmosphere in Seton Hall Prep’s Tracey Gymnasium is one full of excitement celebrating the hard work of the class of 2025 and their zealous dedication to Seton Hall Prep’s basketball program. While things may be jubilant for the players, coaches, and fans of the home team Pirates, something else was going through the mind of Montclair Immaculate’s freshman guard Infinite Sincere-Amenra as he splashed his fifth three-pointer in for the Lions over state ranked #20 Seton Hall Prep. Sincere-Amenra wasn’t focused on his career-high 21 points in the upset bid over the Pirates, but rather, he was focused on where he’d spend his sophomore year of high school amid the news that his school, Montclair Immaculate, would be closing its doors this June and not reopen next school year.

The Archdiocese of Newark announced earlier this week that Montclair Immaculate Conception High School would be closing its doors for good come June 30 of this year after one hundred years of service. The Catholic school has had a storied history in Essex County, providing a quality Christian education, rooted in fact, reason, and faith to thousands of students across many towns, counties, states, and even on rare occasions, countries. Citing dwindling enrollment and high costs, the signs of impending doom for the school were apparent to many around the county as well as all at the archdiocese. Serving around a 50% minority population, tuition was set uniquely, and arguably unsustainably low, at $8,000 per year, roughly $16,000 cheaper than the cost to attend Seton Hall Prep. In fact, a year’s tuition at Seton Hall Prep could cover 6 semesters at Immaculate. As enrollment levels reached record lows for Immaculate, tuition never really rose; Adam Smith would scorn the thought that the administration at Immaculate must never subscribe to his theories. Current school enrollment is listed at around 135 boys and girls, from grades 9-12. That number of total students at Immaculate equals about half of Seton Hall Prep’s class of 2026 when they arrived in West Orange as Freshman in the Fall of 2022. The school’s enrollment dropped precipitously in the past two years, as enrollment during the 2021-2022 school year was reported to be around 260 full-time students.

This is the official cessation of Immaculate’s storied history of educating New Jersey’s youth, but this is not the first time the school has faced the possibility of closure. Back in 2014, the Archdiocese of Newark planned to shut the school down as enrollment goals were not met in consecutive years spanning nearly a decade. A vigorous campaign of fundraising, spearheaded by students, parents, alumni and the community helped Montclair Immaculate rise back from the ashes. The devoted believers in Immaculate raised nearly $500,000 in just a single month to keep the school afloat.

While efforts to fundraise may have saved Immaculate in the past, efforts now would be nothing short of fruitless. The Archdiocese has made its decision, which begs the question: could Seton Hall Prep suffer the same fate as Montclair Immaculate? The definitive answer is simply “no,” well no not quite yet. The key problems Immaculate suffered are polar opposites to Seton Hall Prep’s “problems.” Immaculate’s low enrollment and low tuition contrasts with Seton Hall Prep’s growing enrollment and seemingly ever-growing tuition. To illustrate this point, it’s important to note that Immaculate dropped its football program years back, something that will never happen as long as heat continues to flow through the halls of 120 Northfield Ave.

The closing of Montclair Immaculate should serve as a reminder to all of just how fragile the tenet of a Catholic school education is in the United States. Nearly thirty Catholic schools have closed in New Jersey in recent years as the trend continues nationwide. The simple fact is Catholic schools are closing at unprecedented rates, and what happened to Immaculate conception already happened to St. Anthony’s of Jersey City and could very well happen to St. Benedict’s of Newark. Even the great Bobby Hurley of basketball fame couldn’t save St. Anthony’s. Basketball could not save Immaculate either.

There are many ties between Seton Hall Prep and Montclair Immaculate. The schools are just four miles apart and fierce rivals on the hardwood. Former teacher, football coach and current head track coach John Finnegan was a long-time football coach at Immaculate, winning several Non-Public State Championships. The Immaculate basketball teams have found success in recent years, reaching the Essex County Tournament semi-finals ten times, including five championship game appearances and one team title (coincidently coming over Seton Hall Prep). The two teams have endured many great battles on the hardwood, as coaches named Farrell, Williams, and now Gibbs have gone head-to-head with great basketball minds like Meachum and Salmon. Marcus Toney-El ’99, who was an All-American at Seton Hall Prep and a starter at Seton Hall University, is a current assistant coach at Montclair Immaculate.

With a 11-12 record on the season facing some of New Jersey’s toughest opponents, there was perhaps no game more important or emotional as Wednesday’s dogfight against Seton Hall Prep. The Pirates, who already blew out Immaculate once this season 67-47 back in January, led at the halftime break before being outscored 21-14 in the 3rd quarter. Perhaps Immaculate was playing with a sense of fire, rage, passion, and pride for their closing school, or they we simply just the better team spoiling the Pirates senior night in the process. Whatever it was, Immaculate has something to celebrate: a top 20 NJ upset, in a grim time. For Infinite Sincere-Amenra, who already has a Division 1 offer from NJIT as a ninth grader, as well as the rest of the Lions squad, the goal is still to win the New Jersey Non-Public B state championship, even if it means all the underclassmen, Amenra included, must find a new high school next fall.