Three
parishes to form regional elementary school
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — A new regional Catholic elementary school will open
in September in the Port Richmond section of the city, uniting the students
of St. Adalbert, Nativity B.V.M. and Our Lady Help of Christians schools.
The regional school, to be named at a later date, will use St. Adalbert’s
current school building at the intersection of Thompson and Madison streets.
The three schools, within three blocks of one another in Cluster 16, will
close in June.
In accepting the recommendation by the Port Richmond Steering Committee
to form the regional school, Cardinal Justin Rigali said, “It is
always a goal that each parish have its own school, but the reality of
decreasing enrollment and increasing costs creates the necessity of restructuring.”
Terri Koltonuk’s response to the news — she has two sons and
a granddaughter now attending Nativity B.V.M. School — was bittersweet.
“I’m a little sad to see Nativity and the other schools closing,
but I’m looking forward to a regional school,” she said.
Because the community is so close-knit, Koltonuk said her sons, Anthony,
in grade seven, and Nicholas, in grade five, as well as her granddaughter,
Kiersten Pokorny, a second-grader, will already know most of their new
classmates.
“They’ll be going to school with their peers,” she added.
Although she does not want “to see the Catholic schools close totally,”
Koltonuk acknowledged: “I’m looking forward to change.”
Toni Sanderlin, 13, a seventh-grader at Our Lady Help of Christians School,
echoed those sentiments.
“It’s kind of sad because we have to leave our school, and
all the teachers won’t be able to come,” she said. But she
added, “It will be cool that we actually get to spend our last year
of grade school with a bunch of our friends” from the other schools.
The steering committee, consisting of pastors, principals and lay representatives
from each parish, began meeting last February to explore the possibility
of forming a regional Catholic school. In its deliberations, the committee
considered many factors, including demographics, enrollment, costs and
facilities.
The combined enrollment at the three schools decreased from 784 in the
2002-’03 school year to 685 in 2007-’08. And the parishes’
combined debt is more than $1.6 million — partly because school
subsidies exceed resources generated by the parishes.
“When schools experience low enrollment and growing financial challenges,
it creates a dilemma for all who wish to provide all of the components
of a quality Catholic education at the most affordable tuition rate, while
at the same time not jeopardizing the overall financial stability of each
parish,” Cardinal Rigali said.
Forming a regional Catholic school allows the parishes to pool limited
resources for their common interest and, in doing so, unite the parish
communities as the regional school establishes a new identity and new
traditions, the Cardinal said.
“At the same time,” he continued, “I recognize that
there is pain in the loss of each individual school and I pray that all
of those involved in seeking to ensure that our children are formed in
the faith will trust in the love of Jesus Christ.”
The Cardinal expressed his gratitude for the efforts of Msgr. Herbert
A. Bevard, vicar for Philadelphia-North, and Msgr. Bevard’s predecessor
as vicar, Msgr. Francis W. Beach, as well as the work of all the members
of the steering committee.
He also thanked the pastors and principals: Msgr. Francis S. Feret and
Holy Family of Nazareth Sister M. Ruth Ruster of St. Adalbert; Father
Anthony F. Orth and Susan R. Campbell of Nativity B.V.M. and Father Dennis
Z. Fedak and Christian Charity Sister Mary Ripp of Our Lady Help of Christians.
For more information, contact the Office of Catholic Education at (215)
587-3700.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.