According to parents, staff, and supporters, the elementary schools that won the appeals from the archdiocese include Holy Trinity in Morrisville, St. Mark in Bristol, St. Francis de Sales in Aston, St. Gabriel in South Philadelphia, and St. Laurentius school in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood.
Other schools contacted said they would not comment until Friday.
Alumni, parents, and students at the three high schools that are fighting to remain open said Thursday night that they remained in suspense. Amid reports that major donors might have stepped forward to provide support, prayers continued for St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls in Holmesburg, Conwell Egan in Fairless Hill, and Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast, Drexel Hill. West Catholic did not file a formal appeal and is set to close in June.
"Still praying hard for our high schools!" one woman wrote on a Facebook page for Catholic school parents.
Meanwhile, Thursday night's homework assignments were canceled as part of the celebration at St. Gabriel in South Philadelphia. Church bells rang out in Bucks County, and thankful parishioners and parents gathered for a special prayer service at St. Laurentius on Thursday night to give thanks.
The Rev. Francis A. Gwiazda, pastor of St. Laurentius, said he received a phone call about 12:30 p.m. Thursday informing him that his school had been spared.
"This shows the power of prayer," Gwiazda said at the service. "I feel strongly that St. John Neumann answered our prayer. What were we going to do in Fishtown if there was no Catholic school?
"We're going to do everything to make this school alive and increase enrollment. Catholic education is alive in Fishtown. We're still going strong, thanks to the people."
