Mother of Mercy, McAuley high schools counting down to merger next summer

A year from now, Mother of Mercy High School’s halls in Westwood will be empty, but the Mercy education will live on as it merges with McAuley High School in College Hill. The Sisters of Mercy announced in March that the two all-girls Catholic schools would combine to form Mercy McAuley High School, citing declining enrollment. The two schools will officially cease to exist on June 30, 2018, according to Tom Otten, chair of the transition committee. “The size of the facility of these institutions dictated that we weren’t going to be able to fill up these buildings,” Otten said. “Looking out onto the future, it didn’t appear like there was going to be a baby boom — there was no wave coming of new students. (The merger) seemed like the most viable way to go about continuing Mercy education in Cincinnati.”