We’ll admit it. We’re biased. Holy Family School has a special place in our hearts.

No, we’re not Catholic.

We’re not Holy Family School graduates, or even parents of existing students.

We’re biased because the caliber of student Holy Family School has traditionally produced is a notch above average — perhaps several notches.

Almost any visitor to the school can attest that the place is special. Holy Family doesn’t have fancy new buildings or state-of-the-art facilities.

It doesn’t have massive financial reimbursements or wealthy contributors.

Yet it’s special just the same.

Holy Family has a tradition of providing its students with a quality education. But at the same time it instills values in the tiny, malleable minds that enter the halls of the schools, values that make those students become good citizens.

Through the years, the tiny smiles and bright faces lured us. The students’ generally positive attitude about learning exudes from almost each of them.

So it’s with great disappointment that we learned the Catholic Diocese of Jackson plans to close the school at the end of this school year.

Parents and other supporters are considering options and hope to find a way to convince the diocese to reconsider and leave the school open.

We wish them success in their efforts.

Rather than close small schools like Holy Family, perhaps communities should hold them up as models of what the public education system should strive to become — places of learning where even outsiders can see the joy of learning taking place.