Philadelphia Archdiocese considers creating "mission schools"

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.