North Catholic closure: What happened to the promise?
Published news reports from 2006 and 2007 say the archdiocese would keep the school open until 2011. What happened?
North Catholic closure: What happened to the promise?
Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist
While parents of students at Cardinal Dougherty High School and Northeast Catholic High School for Boys (North Catholic, for short) are upset that the Philadelphia Archdiocese will shutter at the end of this academic school year, one North Catholic mom explained to me this morning why she feels especially hoodwinked by the archdiocese' decision.
She pointed me toward two newspaper articles, published in 2006 and 2007 respectively, that indicated that North Catholic would remain open at least through 2011.
The headline of the first article, published in The Star on Sept. 14, 2006, trumpeted "A Technological Miracle Promises Five More Years For North Catholic."
The "miracle" was the creation of a $1.5 million information-technology program that would allow students to train as information technologists, computer repairmen and network managers. At the end of their training, students could apply for certification from systems giants Microsoft (in products) or Cisco (programming).
The story's opening paragraph says the program assures North Catholic will remain open another five years.
A year later, when the program launched as the North Catholic IT Academy, its vision had expanded to include night classes for adults in the community who also wanted technology certification. An Inquirer story about the opening, published Oct. 8, 2007, quoted North Catholic alum and academy funder John Fries as saying the archdiocese, through Bishop Joseph McFadden, promised him the school would remain open through 2011.
Reached yesterday at home, Fries told me, "I don't want to get in the middle of all that" and would have no comment on North Catholic's closing or the future, if any, of the academy as a community resource.
When I called North Catholic today for comment, a recorded message stated the school was closed for a "faculty staff day of recollection." Astaffer in the archdiocese communications office promised to get back to me today with a comment about the five-year promise referred to in both news stories.
I'll post the response from the archdiocese as soon as I hear back from them.
Update: This afternoon, I was able to reach Bishop McFadden, who is also the Philadelphia Archdiocese' vicar of education this afternoon. He said that he never gave a blanket promise that North Catholic would remain open through 2011, even though the papers reported otherwise.
"At the time, I supported the program as it was proposed, which included the opening of a night school for adults in the community," he told me. "Their fees would've helped to fund the bottom line of running the school."
But the adult-education component of the academy never materialized, he said. Hence, no extra income was generated to support North Catholic, whose enrollment continued to drop. He went on to say that, back in 1993, the archdiocese hired Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) to study the sustainability of the archdiocese' high-school system. One recommendation of the study study was to close two high schools - one of them ebing North Catholic.
"We refused to accept that advice," he said. "We thought the school deserved the chance to grow and flourish, and everyone worked very hard to do that. Ultimately, we weren't successful, but it was not for lack of effort."
This is absolutely heartbreaking! My son is a Freshman at North. It is absolutely wrong what is happening. Last year when I registered my son for North Catholic, I was under the impression that he would be there for 4 years, not 1 year!!!!— towner609- its all about money. i thought religions were to help people, not bail on the folks who need it most. what a joke catholics are!!! its just a business— pieman
- The worst part is that the people who need options the most, blue-collar city residents, are the people losing options. How is a cop, fireman or water dept. worker going to afford to send their kid to private school? It isn't like their kids have a shot in the Philly School District! So you have to pray your kid(s) get into a charter school (which are far from a solution) or roll the dice on your child's safety and education. This is why the city is doomed, any one who can leave, does. If they let all city workers live outside of the city Philly would be Detroit.— wolf868
- The Archdiocese's reponse to this horrible situation is shameful. Defineitely it's about money and in my opinion the bishop not telling the truth. During the news conference last week he mentioned the famous "Coopers & Lybrand" study from 16 years ago that suggested the closure of 10 schools--now he is saying it was only 2 schools. The news conference is available (for now) on the Archdiocese website. At the very LEAST if the Archdiocese has ANY consideration for these students at these schools should be to permit these current students (freshmen through senior)to finish their education and get a North Catholic diploma. The closure of North Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty comes at the same time the Archdiocese is planning to build a multi-million dollar high school in the suburbs, complete with tennis courts and 2 gymnasiums. Bishop Mcfadden states this needs to be built because Catholics in the area have been "underserved" for years. It's all about money, who has it, and how much they give to the Archdiocese, and not about serving the people of the church, no matter who you are or how much money you have.— tcrn1021
- The Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Phila and the Diocesan Priests are all about a buck! From what I understand the alumni paid any deficit at the end of school year from back in 1993 when they were going to close before. So what is the Archdiocese talking about how they invested in the school and would get a better return investing it somewhere else? I bet they have not given a dime to North. They just don't like it because they can't skim a little from the top and buy themselves a new car or gold cufflinks when the school is just breaking even. When I attended North in the 80's I remember the Archdiocese stopped buying supplies for the high schools and it was all up to each school (bathroom supplies, etc.) so I see no money getting put out on the schools. All they worry about is their church buildings, rectories and themselves - having waiters and waitresses serving them nice expensive breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The Oblates at North never had all that, they were just regular people serving the people. I wouldn't give up that education I received at North from the Oblates for nothing. I think they received an offer for the land (we’ll never know) and soon after the school would close it would magically get sold to someone like WalMart or Target and the Achdiocese would walk away with a few million bucks to play with building big surburban high schools. This is totally unfair to current past and future students that love that school with a passion I have never seen or heard of before. FALCONS FOREVER!!!!— YoYo
- I agree that this is a disgrace! Why should the students at North Catholic be sacrificed because the Archdiocese can't properly manage it's assets, and couldn't come up with a better plan? Why wasn't North given the option of merging with it's sister school, Little Flower, when other schools that had declining enrollment have done that in the past? At the very least, if they knew that this closing was inevitable, why not phase the school out over a period of time and let the current students graduate. This was such a shock and a slap in the face to the hard-working, dedicated parents who want to provide their children with a catholic education. I had recently made a pledge to the Archdiocese "Heritage of Faith" campaign, but will be cancelling that because I feel cheated by the Archdiocese.— Fishtown Mom
- I am a graduate from the Class of 2008 at Little Flower High School, North Catholic's sister school. I am more than outraged at what the Archdiocese has done to the school. Not only have they lied to the parents, faculty, and current students, but to the community and alumni. They promised the school that they had 5 years and they lied straight to our faces. We put our faith in the Archdiocese and they told us to trust them and when we do they come up behind us and stab us in the back. We are rallying almost everyday to save our school that we have grown to love and that has become our home. We REFUSE to let them shut us down especially without a fight. We promise that we will continue our rallies and continue to find support as well as petition to keep the school open until the Cardinal decides to keep us open. We have taken hold and we will not let go!— North_Supporter
- As of Graduate of North Catholic from the 90's, I am ashamed of what the Archdiocese is doing to the current students, the tradition, and history of the school. Many current students are sons, nephews, cousins, etc of Alumni and the Tradition of the school was instilled in them from when they were young children, and this tradition is being ripped from their fingertips. Also as a Catholic I am not surprised of how eventually this will play out about money in the end. Two years ago during the annual Alumni Summer Reunion shirts were given out about the Archdiocese supporting North Catholic and it's great tradition, this of course now was a total farce. Many great men have come out of those doors, and have made major strides in all aspects of life as shown in our Hall of Fame. If anything, I would rather see the school combined with Little Flower, there is a better access for students via public transportation at North, and the neighborhood is a lot safer. I also feel for the students and parents of Cardinal Doughtery, the parents who sent their children to these school bust their hump making sure they can afford the tuition as well as making sure they pay their weekly tithing at their churches so the local priests there keep complaints down from there as well! Also besides paying that making sure their families can EAT, have a ROOF over their heads, and be able to afford to pay for the school books, activity fees, athletic fees, and whatever other money they have to come up with. It is sad when parents are paying almost as much as some pay for a mortgage in order to give their children the best education possible. As for the other schools that are "safe" watch out cause you're going to be next, cause the only place it seems money is plentiful is in the suburbs!!!!! In the tradition of the school motto: "Tenui Nec Dimittam", "What I have, I will not lose." I will fight with my brother Falcons and hopefully NOT LOSE!— DaveL79
- this sudden and shocking news is devastating to say the least, but the way the archdiocese is handling this is even worse. We, the parents, were informed via and automated phone call advising us to tune into the archdiocese website for an important announcement regarding our son's school. We had no warning and at least for me, it came as a total shock. Now, after contacting Bishop McFadden and Mary Rochford, I have received emails that state, and quote, " A few beef and beers and socials will not bring the money needed to fund North Catholic in the future" and the insincere lament that it just had to be done, right then and there. As some of you may already know, there has been a grassroots effort to do all we can to save our school. The spirit and determination of the students, parents, alumni, faculty, and entire North Catholic community is undeniable! There motto of "I have taken hold and will not let go" seems so appropriate now. The archdiocese may try to close our school but they will never extinguish the spirit and legacy of North! I will fight this with every ounce of my being because North Catholic has provided my son(a sophomore,) my husband(91,) my dad (69,) my brother (96,) and my father-in-law (74) with something that you cannot put a price tag on! The North Catholic tradition is proud and alive. I understand the business side of it, but these boys lives and education are not a business.— donnaconway
- "But the adult-education component of the academy never materialized, he said"- Is this true?? When I went to the open house last year I could swear there was an evening IT class for adults in session.— ncmom94
- Is West Catholic turning a profit? It has about 500 students, and it's co-ed. I recall Bishop McFadden was a teacher and basketball coach at West Catholic. Hmmm...back room deal?— tcrn1021
- With the closure of North Catholic, the church is not going to receive my "Heritage of Hope" donation. 65% goes to the Archdiocese. For what? to help build new schools in the "rich" neighborhoods. Abandon the "not so rich" neighborhoods for the "rich" neighborhoods. That sounds so very christian. Charity begins at home and I am going to support my parish church and North as much as I can. Maybe the Archdiocese can sell the mansion on city line the Cardinal lives in... Tenui Nec Dimittam... We are "NC"— CobolAl
- Okay folks, let's just keep all the schools open and eventually, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will collapse and all the Catholic schools will have to shut down. Would that be a better solution then to close the schools that are losing money? Sacrifice the Ryans and Judges for the North's and Dougherty's? Eliminate any possibility of future generations having the opportunity to attend Catholic school like we did? I understand the emotion attachment to the schools that are closing but from a business standpoint this is a smart thing to do. And no, McFadden is not taking a payoff from West Catholic to keep the school open; he's too honest and West can't afford it, anyway!— WCgrad77
- While I am sad to hear that these two schools face closure...sad for the students and parents who have to now find another school for their children...I also understand the reason. You cannot continue to run a school if only have about 50% enrollment. Schools who are meant to have at least 1000 students can't function if enrollment is only at 500 or 600 pupils. What do you do? Do you raise tuition to cover the deficit? I'm sure the parents would love to spend twice as much as they already spend! (not) Face it, there are many Catholic parents who have taken their children out of Catholic School and placed them in alternative schools (charter, private, etc.). You want to save the schools, encourage your Catholic sisters and brothers to support the schools by enrolling their children.— Justmy2cents
- The Cardinal needs to save cash for his mansion on the main line. When you have maids and servants you need to cut costs somewhere. As a CD grad, I would urge the Cardinal to move into one of the very large but largely vacant rectories where he can occupy several floors and bring his large staff as well. Just look at St. Helena's rectory at 5th and Godfrey Ave. as an example. Given that he did take an oath of poverty, this is a responsible step.— equalityman
When my phone rings here at the Daily News, nine times out of ten the caller begins the conversation with, “Yeah, so what happened was…”.
Because this is Philly, the caller doesn’t say, “My name is Bob” – or Mary – “and I wonder if I could have a moment of your time?” Philadelphians are too direct for that. They just say, “Yeah, so what happened was…”, and then tumble into a tale they think oughta be shared with a wider audience. I love getting these calls (even the ones where it becomes clear, after 30 seconds, where the caller sowed the seeds of his own misery), because they give me chance to connect with fellow citizens in a way that no other job allows. Well, okay, no other job for which I’m remotely qualified.
That’s why my blog is titled “So What Happened Was…”. To me, it’s the quintessentially Philly way of saying, “Once upon a time.” When I hear it, I know a good story is coming. And I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Ronnie Polaneczky has been an award-winning columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News since 1999, offering a front-steps perspective on every aspect of city life, from the sublime to the stupid. In her past life, she was the editor-in-chief of Atlantic City Magazine, associate editor at Philadelphia Magazine and a fulltime freelancer published in Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Reader's Digest, Men's Health, MarieClaire and others. She lives with her husband, daughter and various pets in the city's Fairmount section, where she dreams of one day singing The National Anthem at an Eagles game. In addition to her column and blog, you can enjoy Ronnie's musings in podcast form here.
Read more from Ronnie Polaneczky at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green
Reach Ronnie at polaner@phillynews.com.
