A 16-member commission recommended closing 45 elementary schools and four high schools as part of a plan to address declining enrollment and to ensure the viability of Catholic education. The high school decisions could be announced Friday.
Chaput had said he would review cases in which schools believed the commission's recommendations had been based on incorrect data.
Schools that filed appeals made presentations to a committee. The panel's findings were forwarded to Chaput, who made the decisions. The archdiocese's website says the rulings are final.
But Nativity parents say they were shocked that instead of serving as the site of a new merged school, Nativity will close and its children will be sent to St. John Chrysostom in Wallingford, which won its appeal.
Nativity kicked off a campaign for reconsideration with a candlelight vigil Friday. Other schools have scheduled rallies for Thursday.
Supporters of St. Bridget in East Falls will gather at 5 p.m. to protest the decision to close and form a regional school with Holy Child in Manayunk.
Sean Stevens, whose son is in the prekindergarten program, said St. Bridget parents and alumni were signing petitions and writing letters in the hope of persuading Chaput to reexamine his decision to locate the merged school in Manayunk.
In South Philadelphia, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Sacred Heart of Jesus will rally at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Third and McKean Streets to protest their closings. They are slated to form a new regional school at Epiphany of Our Lord.
If both close, organizers say, Catholic education will no longer be an option in South Philadelphia from South Street to Oregon Avenue and between the Delaware River and Sixth Street.
