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Philadelphia Archdiocese Considers Mission Schools

by: iradiotom - Philadelphia, PA
started: 01/16/12 8:04 am | updated: 01/16/12 8:04 am

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is considering opening Mission Schools to ensure Catholic education in poor, inner-city neighborhoods. Mission Schools would be a new category of schools modeled after successful programs in Philadelphia such as St. Malachy in North Philly. Interestingly, St Malachy is on the list of schools to be closed and merged. The new merged school would become a Mission School.
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According to Philly.com:
The commission that called for closing scores of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia also created a new category called "mission schools" it said would ensure Catholic education survives in poor inner-city neighborhoods.

Saying there was no way tuition alone could sustain such schools, the commission came up with a concept for these mission schools that will explore strategies for alternative funding from corporations, private donors, and foundations. The commission designated eight schools scattered across Philadelphia neighborhoods for the initial group.

Although there are no "mission schools" in the area now, the archdiocese said some could be modeled after two similar programs in North Philadelphia and Chester.

Officials from the nonprofit Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS), which has been working closely with a small group of urban schools, applauded the mission concept. They said they look forward to working closely with those schools and joining with foundations to help sustain all remaining Catholic schools.

"We've had a special focus on urban, inner-city schools," Joe Garecht, executive director of BLOCS, said in a recent interview. "So the thing I'm most heartened about this is the archdiocese has made a commitment to mission schools, schools that otherwise would not be able to stay open."

BLOCS chairman Michael G. O'Neill agreed. But he was among many Catholic school supporters who were stunned that the commission had called for closing the North Philadelphia parish school that had been a pioneering self-sustaining school for low-income students for nearly 30 years - St. Malachy.

"I was personally surprised," said O'Neill, a businessman whose family has been involved in supporting the school in the 1400 block of North 11th Street for 25 years.

He said he had not talked to the archdiocese about why the commission recommended closing St. Malachy. He said his only suspicion was that because the school is so small - 208 students - realizing economies of scale was difficult.

The commission, which announced its findings with Archbishop Charles J. Chaput on Jan. 6, recommended that St. Malachy close in June and consolidate with Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the 300 block of East Lehigh Avenue, 2.6 miles away in Kensington.

The new regional school would become a mission school.

Unlike many of the 48 other schools targeted to close, St. Malachy does not have a half-filled building. Its building has room for only 230 students.

And the school has no deficit. In fact, archdiocese data show the school had a current surplus of $92,836.

With money collected from donors in the city and suburbs, the Irish American community, foundations, and annual fund-raisers, St. Malachy has been self-sustaining for more than three decades.

"We were surprised we were on the list," said Dan Pickens, chairman of the Friends of St. Malachy, which helps support the school, where 89 percent of students are not Catholic.

The Rev. John McNamee, pastor emeritus, credited with working to make sure St. Malachy's parish and school were self-sustaining, declined to comment. He said he had decided to "stay out of the fray" because he retired as pastor after 26 years in 2008.

The commission's recommendations outline three optimal enrollment models for elementary schools: 250-plus, 500-plus, and 700-plus. Enrollment was below 200 in 34 of the schools targeted for closing.

Mary E. Rochford, superintendent of archdiocesan schools, praised St. Malachy.

"They do great work, and their board is wonderful," Rochford said.

But she said the small school lacked some programs the archdiocese believes should be available at elementary schools, including foreign languages, physical education, music, and technology. She said paying teachers' salaries for those subjects would wipe out the school's surplus.

Pickens said St. Malachy would appeal its closing.

"Right now, we're hard at work crafting an appeal," he said, "and we're cautiously optimistic we have good grounds."

Rochford said a panel of archdiocesan administrators and commission members conducted its first appeal session Thursday.

The archdiocese would not say how many appeals had been filed.