Parochial Schools

Joanne Florig Cromie, 53, a teacher for Montgomery County parochial schools, died Saturday of cancer at her home in East Norriton Township. Mrs. Cromie, who began her teaching career at age 17, had taught at St. Mary School in Norristown, St. Philip Neri School in Lafayette Hill, and, in recent years, at Epiphany of Our Lord School in Plymouth Township, where she taught kindergarten and fifth grade. A native of Norristown, she graduated from the former Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown in 1962 and earned her degree in education from Gwynedd Mercy College.

THE ARCHDIOCESE of Philadelphia's Office of Catholic Education on Thursday named two Catholic educators as the new superintendents of schools, effective immediately.   Carol A. Cary, 57, will be the superintendent in charge of parochial high schools. Jacqueline P. Coccia, 47, will oversee the Archdiocese's elementary schools. Cary has a bachelor's degree from West Chester University and a teaching certificate from Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. The Exton resident has a master's degree in educational administration from North Carolina State and a doctorate from Immaculata University.

As a result of a Feb. 5 decision by a federal judge, 325 teachers and aides in the Philadelphia school district whose salaries are paid with federal funds were sent back to Catholic schools this week. But educators said the ruling was a mixed blessing: While parish principals were rejoicing over the return of their longtime staff, their public school counterparts who had been relying on the services of the teachers and aides were upset by their departure. "We are elated to have them back," said Sister Helen Ann Sharkey, principal of St. Malachy School in North Philadelphia, which welcomed back three part-time aides and a reading specialist on Monday.

As the financially struggling Archdiocese of Philadelphia looks to a private foundation to manage its high schools, it should take a close look at the city public schools' venture into similar waters to avoid the same mistakes. Beginning Sept. 1, the Faith in the Future Foundation will take over management of 17 Catholic high schools and four special-education schools. It will become the first independently run Catholic system in the country. Grade schools will still be managed by the parishes.

By yesterday morning, there wasn't much left inside St. Michael's Elementary School in Gibbstown, except some clunky steel desks and the paper tulips on the windows in the first grade. It was a forlorn sight to Becky Blazek. Blazek has had the misfortune of presiding over St. Michael's Parent- Teachers Association during its worst year. She was still shaken yesterday as the school's last day of classes wound to a close. "How can I say it?" she said, choking back tears.

Four times a year, the choice to send her two children to Catholic school makes Winnie Branton wince. But for the 361 other days, the Haddonfield mother has no regrets about her decision to bypass the Camden County borough's highly regarded public-education system for close-knit Christ the King, her parish's school for kindergarten through eighth grade. "The days I have to pay my quarterly taxes, it kills me. But I like the town and I love the school, so it's worth it," Branton said.

New Jersey's parochial-school football playoffs could be drastically altered if a proposal currently before the NJSIAA Executive Committee is approved. The proposal, which would affect only football, would do the following: Eliminate the current classifications of Parochial A and Parochial B, and replace them with four groups: Parochial 1, Parochial 2, Parochial 3 and Parochial 4. Eliminate the current Parochial North and Parochial South geographical sections and regroup the state's 42 football-playing parochial schools on a statewide basis.

A year ago, Christa Hill was facing a problem. She wanted her daughter Caitlyn, then 3, to eventually attend a parochial school, but the Gibbstown woman had no parish preschool nearby. "I wanted to send her to a school where she would get the background for the Catholic school she'd be going to later," Hill said. Today, Hill is readying Caitlyn for her first day in the 4-year-old prekindergarten class at Guardian Angels Regional School, which will open Sept. 5 to students in Gibbstown, Paulsboro and Mullica Hill.

More extracurricular activities, better teacher training, and increased communication between schools and police were among the recommendations announced yesterday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher during a school-safety hearing at Cardinal O'Hara High School. Fisher, who is running for reelection this year against Democratic challenger Jim Eisenhower, formed his Task Force on School Safety last August. Led by A. Leo Sereni, president judge emeritus of Delaware County, the task force has held school-safety hearings throughout the state.

THE DAPPER, quiet-spoken man with a slight build and gray hair doesn't look like a typical superhero. But to some area Catholics, Peter Borre, a canon-law consultant based in Boston, has all the makings of one. The Harvard-educated Borre has been on a mission from Cleveland to Boston, fighting for fellow Catholics who seek to save their parishes and parochial schools from closure by their dioceses. He's already made an imprint here in Philadelphia, helping two groups of parochial-school parents appeal directly to the Vatican to overturn the Archdiocese's rulings that the schools close.

A fight between two teenage girls Tuesday afternoon in Center City drew a large crowd of young people in the area of 15th and Chestnut Streets, said parents of some of the teens arrested at the scene. It was not a planned "flash mob," and the crowd had not gathered for any particular purpose, the parents said Wednesday. "My son wasn't out there fighting," Dwayne Louis, 39, said outside the Youth Study Center, where 10 juveniles were awaiting hearings Wednesday. Whatever happened, police arrested 14 people - including Louis' son - amid rumors of a flash mob. The Wendy's restaurant at 15th and Chestnut locked its doors during the mayhem.

WHILE the number of district-run and parochial schools shrinks and the city's charter-school population booms, a group of education advocates is looking at a plan to implement a single, citywide enrollment process. The result could alter Philadelphia's educational landscape. The plan, still in the early stages, would involve students' filling out one application that would place them on lists at district, charter and parochial schools in the city, said Miles Wilson, director of the Great Schools Compact for the Philadelphia Schools Partnership.

One in a continuing series spotlighting the real estate market in this region's communities.   It had been March for only about 12 hours, but already the front windows of houses on every street in Fox Chase were sporting shamrocks in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day. The day also was on the mind of Gina O'Rourke, who with husband Sean owns In the Loop Cafe at Barnes and Loney Streets. She was in the market for Irish musicians to perform March 16 at the cafe's St. Patrick's "acoustic breakfast.

As sad as it was to see adults and children crying over the final decision to close 23 Philadelphia schools, it was more disheartening to see politicians act as if they were innocent bystanders in the matter. Particularly irritating were City Council members who acted sympathetic but hadn't tried to get the schools more money by adjusting the property-tax rate during the reassessment process. Council patted itself on the back for giving the schools extra funds last year, but the commitment was modest.

Gov. Corbett joined Catholic school supporters, students, educators, and pastors on Friday at a school in Northeast Philadelphia to mark a milestone in an effort to preserve Catholic elementary schools for area low-income children. Officials from the nonprofit Independence Mission Schools announced the appointment of two key staff members for the new 16-school system of independent "mission schools. " They also thanked Corbett for expanding corporate tax breaks for scholarship programs that will help low-income families pay tuition to send their children to the schools.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Philadelphia $2.5 million Wednesday to promote collaboration between public and charter schools and fund projects aimed at boosting teacher training and principal leadership, among other things. Philadelphia was one of seven cities nationwide to get Gates money, which will be distributed over three years. The public and charter school communities in each city - the others are Boston, Denver, Hartford, Conn., New Orleans, New York City, and Spring Branch, Texas - have signed agreements pledging cooperation and stating mutual goals.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Philadelphia $2.5 million Wednesday to promote collaboration between public and charter schools and fund projects aimed at boosting teacher training and principal leadership, among other things. Philadelphia was one of seven cities nationwide to get Gates money, which will be distributed over three years. The public and charter school communities in each city - the others are Boston, Denver, Hartford, Conn., New Orleans, New York City, and Spring Branch, Texas - have signed agreements pledging cooperation and stating mutual goals.