Alumni of St. James High School in Carney's Point are invited to a mass in their honor and a tour of the school Sunday.
St. James High School, which became Bishop Guilfoyle Elementary School, has been closed since 2010. (File photo) CARNEYS POINT TWP. --For more than 40 years St. James High School was a popular choice for Catholic education in the area, but it has been 16 years since its last class -- the class of 2000 -- threw their mortarboards and left the small school's halls behind.
Now, with the creation of an alumni association, former classmates, teachers and administration are being invited to remember their collective days at St. James from the day it opened until those final moments when the diocese shuttered its doors.
On Sunday morning a mass will be held in the St. James gym, and all alumni are invited to attend.
The building has gone through a few uses since the high school ceased to exist. For 10 years it served at Bishop Guilfoyle Regional Elementary School -- hosting students from throughout Salem County -- and it was being eyed as a possible charter school in recent years. With that plan falling through, however, ownership has remained with the diocese and it is under the control of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish.
Parish personnel are now using the St. James building for office space and as a parish center, and are planning to offer alumni the opportunity to use the building if needed.
"We're hoping there's enough interest that alumni will come back and use the school for different activities," said Janet Gioa Blose, a class of 1969 graduate who is running the new alumni association.
Sunday's mass, which will take place at 11 a.m., will be the kickoff for the alumni association and will be followed by refreshments and a tour of the school.
"It seems a lot of people are very excited," Blose said. "A lot of people are surprised that someone finally has an interest in bringing back memories of what they experienced in St. James."
Rebecca Forand may be reached at rforand@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @RebeccaForand. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.