Visitation Convent in Brooklyn is Closed.

I found I had overlooked one sad item of recent news, of special significance to those familiar with Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Visitation Monastery and its all-girls academy have closed after 169 years. The convent and school were established in Brooklyn in the 1855; at least initially the nuns taught both Catholic and Protestant girls. The monastery moved to its location in Bay Ridge after 1900. The site has over seven acres, a lake – but only two remaining nuns. For those of us with no family connections to anyone studying or teaching there, the walled Visitation compound was a mysterious presence in Bay Ridge.

The closure of Visitation Academy was announced earlier this year.

“The Diocese of Brooklyn is truly saddened by the impending loss of the presence of the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Brooklyn.”

Parents and alumnae organized against it, but, as usual in such cases, the opposition seems to have been unsuccessful. The neighborhood feels understandably threatened by the sale of such a valuable property. Fears for the continued existence of other Catholic schools are also rising. For Visitation Academy is just one more example of the ongoing decline of Catholic education in both the Brooklyn Diocese and the Archdiocese of New York.

For more details see:

Camille, Jada, “Nun you can do about it! Visitation Academy to shut down at end of school year,” Brooklynpaper.com (2/7/2024

Youtube, “Historic all-girls Catholic school closing Brooklyn campus after 170 years,” CBS NEWS NY