[1] It remains the only all-girls' Catholic high school in Brooklyn or Queens to have earned the Blue Ribbon Award from the US Department of Education.

The closing was the result of declining enrollment due to changing demographics, the increasing number of charter schools, rising costs, and the economic downturn.

The school was named for the woman who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, after she inherited the equivalent of $1 million from a former employer.

The program was administered in partnership with Boys Hope Girls Hope of New York, a nonprofit organization founded in 1977 which helps academically capable and motivated children from abuse, neglect or otherwise at-risk situations to meet their full potential by providing value-centered, family-like homes, opportunities, and education through college.

Students in the boarding program, referred to as "Scholars," were expected to maintain an 85 GPA and follow a disciplined course of study for their academic and moral development.