Elmer Smith | Gesu School in N. Phila. is turning heads
FOR THE record, this is the 15th year since a committee gathered to salvage what it could from what had been the Catholic Church in North Philadelphia.
FOR THE record, this is the 15th year since a committee gathered to salvage what it could from what had been the Catholic Church in North Philadelphia.
It wouldn't be much, not compared with those halcyon days of yore when there was a parish on every other corner representing virtually every culture or country from which the parishioners had immigrated.
As the immigrants dispersed, parish churches like St. Elizabeth's, St. Columba's, Gesu and, more importantly, their schools were left to the largely African-American population of North Philly.
A lot of those people, to put it nicely, had only minimal concerns about the future of the churches. But those Catholic schools were essential to them.
When the hammer finally fell, it fell on them. Word came down in 1992 that the underutilized churches and schools must be merged or purged. Or something.
Cardinal Bevilacqua had representatives of the five parishes south of Erie Avenue form a cluster committee to devise a plan to save what it could. Neighbors anxiously awaited the outcome of those deliberations.
"None of us had any money and the parishes were mostly limping," recalled Sister Ellen T. Convey, principal of Gesu, at 17th and Thompson.
"We couldn't agree among the five parishes on a plan to follow," recalled Father George W. Bur, Gesu's former president.
"We knew we wanted to save the schools above all, even if we had to have our worship space in a very small area that we could afford to heat."
In the end, they saved all the seats. There are far fewer pews but as many slots in Catholic schools for children in North Philadelphia as there were then.
Gesu, one of the schools that emerged, is turning heads in the educational community. It serves 450 neighborhood children in pre-K-through-8th grade and looks more like a pricey private school than a typical Catholic school.
It's not typical. It is an independent Catholic school not operated by the archdiocese and is supported by grants and donations raised by a 59-member board of directors that draws from corporations and foundations
The students, on the other hand, are typical. They are chosen from a waiting list by lottery. Fewer than 10 percent are Catholic, 80 percent are from single-parent homes and most enter two years below grade level.
But 95 percent of them go on to graduate from high school in four years compared with an on-time graduation rate of under 40 percent for most neighborhood students.
The school has its problem children. I saw a couple of hard-case second-graders yesterday languishing in the "time-out" room on a tour of the newly renovated building. About 75 children a year earn one-day suspensions for fighting, profanity, disrespect or something else from the list of juvenile infractions.
There may be more students in remedial programs than in the advanced programs I looked in on. But Gesu manages to provide as many services for about $5,400 per pupil as public schools do for twice as much.
"Our salaries are significantly above the archdiocese," said Gesu President Christine Beck, "but we have a long way to go to reach public-school pay.
"Our administrative structure is also very lean."
Fat-free is more like it. Four administrators, including Sister Ellen, are nuns or priests who will get paid in the next life.
A full complement of volunteers round out a staff of 26 full-time teachers, a counselor, a social worker and six paid aides.
The building, which has a full-court gym, a staffed computer lab, a library and science labs, has just come through a $5.6 million renovation financed from the proceeds of a $12 million funding campaign.
"The rest is in an endowment," Beck said. "Only 1.5 percent of our students pay the full [$2,010] tuition. We are able to give a lot of scholarship aid.
"We have supporters who believe in the mission."
Father Bur sees it as success drawing on success.
"Some things came about that are astounding to me," he admitted. "The commitments that have been made in the last five years are remarkable, not just money. The tutoring and mentoring skills are just priceless."
So, 15 years after the hammer fell, the Catholic Church in North Philly ain't what it used to be.
But that's not all bad. *
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