BLOC scholarships help Philly children go to Catholic school

In August, seventh grader Joshua Sainta and sister Zephaniah, a fourth grader, were ready to begin classes at St. Dominic's, a Catholic elementary school in Pennypack Woods.

"When I got my kids into St. Dominic's, I had no idea how I was going to pay," said their mother, Nicole, a native of Haiti.

At first, she couldn't meet the tuition. Sainta, despite having taken a second job, had to pull her children out of St. Dominic's and enroll them in public school before the beginning of the academic year.

Then, about two weeks ago, she got a call from St. Dominic's informing her that Joshua and Zephaniah were two out of 100 children chosen to receive two-year, $1,000 annual scholarships from the nonprofit Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS).

BLOCS announced the launch of its Bright Futures Scholarship Fund on Wednesday afternoon in the library of Roman Catholic High School in central Philadelphia. About 50 of the students who were awarded scholarships and their families attended, including the Saintas. St. Dominic's principal, Sister Shaun Callahan, was there as well.

"They were one of the first families we thought of" after receiving a call from BLOCS, Callahan said.

Bright Futures will help ease the burden on economically disadvantaged families that want to send their children to an elementary school operated by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Tuitions vary and are set by each pastor. The average is about $2,800 per year.

"This is our mission," said BLOCS executive director Joe Garecht, "to make sure every kid can get a quality Catholic education, with a particular emphasis on inner-city kids."

BLOCS receives about 8,000 requests for scholarships, but can award only about 3,600 in the five-county area.

"I have the best job and the worst job," Garecht said. "Every accept and reject letter has my signature on it."

BLOCS, founded in 1980, is supported by companies in Philadelphia, Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware Counties, and works to provide access to Catholic education to students of all backgrounds.

Both Joshua and Zephaniah said they preferred St. Dominic's to public school after about two weeks of classes there.

"The lunch is earlier than it was at my other school," Joshua quipped.

"We feel it's a blessing," Nicole Sainta said. "Since that call, life has been different for us."