WINDSOR TERRACE — The closing of a Catholic school marks the end of an era for generations of students and teachers, but it doesn’t mean it’s the end of everything.

For example, all of the items inside a school building — everything from the desks and chairs in classrooms to statues of saints gracing the hallways to student report cards stored away in file cabinets — have a life beyond the school itself.

While principals and the teachers of the soon-to-be-closed schools are busy packing up everything, they are careful not to throw anything out. 

That’s because the Diocese of Brooklyn has protocols in place to ensure that all items in a school are given a new home.

This year, those protocols will be focused on four schools closing their doors — St. Matthias Catholic Academy in Ridgewood, Salve Regina Catholic Academy in East New York, Visitation Academy in Bay Ridge, and St. Catherine of Genoa-St. Therese Lisieux Catholic Academy in Flatbush.

“The main thing here is that this entire process is one based on respect,” said Joseph Coen, the diocese’s archivist, who visited the schools to meet with principals and explain how the process works.

“The school, even though it’s closing, has a history and that history has to be respected,” he added.

That respect even extends to paperwork that is part of the everyday life of a school.

Paper records that in some cases date back many years — including student registration forms, tests results, attendance records, financial ledgers, principals’ letters, and other forms — are all cataloged, placed in labeled boxes provided by the diocese’s Office of Archives and then picked up by that office to be stored in the archives.

“We will go through everything, even flyers we sent out to advertise dance festivals, and we catalog it,” said Michelle Donato, principal of Salve Regina Catholic Academy.

Coen and his staff give the principals plenty of time to pack. “We make sure to let them know that we are not rushing them. When they’re ready, we’re ready. We know that this is a difficult, emotional time for them,” he said.

What happens to the religious objects in schools, such as statues, crucifixes, and religious artworks? Well, that depends.

The pastor of the church the school is affiliated with (many Catholic academies started off as parish schools) gets first dibs, so to speak. He can select any or all of the religious items in the school to bring back to his church.

If the pastor decides to pass, then the items are given to the diocese’s Office of Patrimony. Msgr. John Bracken, the office’s director, arranges for the items to be brought to a diocesan warehouse to be stored. 

No decisions have been made about the religious items in Salve Regina Catholic Academy, said Father Martin Curtin, OFM CAP, pastor of St. Michael-St. Malachy Parish, one of the parishes associated with the academy. 

“We are not thinking of that, just yet. The other pastors and myself are concentrating on the human element here. We are working with the teachers and students to do whatever we can to ease the transition they are facing,” Father Curtin explained.

The secular objects, such as the desks, chairs, and file cabinets, will be offered to other Catholic schools in the diocese. 

The computers the students use in their classwork will go with the students to their new schools if the youngsters are transferring to other Catholic schools.

“We do that for a reason,” Donato said. “It’s a nice way of letting the students bring something from their old school to their new one. It eases the disruption a little bit and makes them feel better.”

The Office of Archives usually deals only with diocesan schools, Coen explained. The disposition of objects in schools sponsored by religious orders is up to those religious orders. 

One example of this is Visitation Academy, which is sponsored by the Sisters of the Visitation. Normally, the sisters would be in charge of deciding what goes where. However, the sisters have agreed to allow the diocese to handle things, Coen said.

All of the arrangements are made during a sad time for the four schools that will be closing.

Darlene Gonzalez-Morris, principal of St. Catherine of Genoa-St. Therese of Lisieux, is postponing cleaning out her office.  

“I will start clearing out the office but I am not clearing it out until after the children leave. I don’t want them to have to come to an empty room. I still want this to be their home to the very last day,” she said.