At 4 schools, generations feel the loss

On paper, the facts add up - a dwindling Catholic population and fewer people sending their children to parochial schools equal school closings.

But for the families, teachers, and alumni of 49 schools ordered to shut down in June, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's fiat is still excruciating.

"It's like a divorce," said Denise Sabia, whose children's school, St. Anthony-St. Joseph in Ambler, is closing. "It feels like our family is being broken up."

Each of the schools has a story - a uniform, a history, traditions, graduates with fond memories of a place that shaped them.

Christine Bischoff found herself "speechless" when she heard that St. Bridget, where three generations of family attended grade school, was closing. What would she say to her boys Ben, a first grader, and Jake, in prekindergarten?

"It's what I knew and what I wanted for them, and that's changing," she said of the East Falls school. "It's a sin."

It was the high school of Peter Boyle, the actor who starred in Young Frankenstein, and Jim Murray, the Eagles general manager who cofounded Ronald McDonald House. It was the alma mater of a number of priests, including Cardinal John J. O'Connor, former archbishop of New York.

It was a school that routinely graduated nearly all of its seniors, nearly all of whom went on to college.

The impending demise of West Philadelphia Catholic High has rocked students and staff, who collectively saw the institution as a second home.

"It hurts," said 10th grader Devin Crosby, fighting back tears after the shuttering was announced Friday. He was 4 when he first visited the school at 45th and Chestnut Street, trailing after his father, football coach Albie Crosby.

"It's true what they say - West Catholic is a family," said Geof Walker, 19. He graduated in 2010, but felt compelled to go to the school as the announcement was made.

West Catholic was born in the crucible of World War I, at a time when Catholic education was expanding in Philadelphia. In 1916, before the United States entered the war, ground was broken for what was to be called the West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys.

In 1927, the West Philadelphia Catholic Girls High School opened.

Both schools thrived for decades - then saw their fortunes change toward the end of the 1950s. Three subsequent decades of slipping enrollment and challenging finances forced a merger: The coed West Philadelphia Catholic High School opened in 1989.

Today enrollment has shrunk to about 360 students - just 28 percent of the school's capacity. More than 85 percent of its students are not Catholic. More than 95 percent receive financial assistance.

In the fall, comedian Joe Piscopo and several former members of the Jersey Boys cast held a benefit concert to raise money for enrichment programs. In recent years, funds for sports and arts have been cut, and more money devoted to financial aid for students who can't afford the $7,000 annual tuition.

Still, 98 percent of seniors graduate, and 95 percent of those go on to higher education. Since 2007, seven graduates have been named Gates Millennium Scholars, receiving full college scholarships under a program for minority students.

"When I heard the announcement, my heart broke into pieces," said Joy Kim, an 18-year-old senior who lives in West Philadelphia.

How, she asked, could the archdiocese close such a good school? Didn't they know how hard the teachers worked?

"They didn't work for money," Kim said, her eyes threatening to overflow. "They worked for us."

For Sister Dorothy Crowley, St. Bridget School, high above Midvale Avenue, has been home for as long as she can remember.

"I was born and raised in East Falls, and I went to this school, so I have lots of memories, the carnivals that we had, the picnics that we had," she said.

Once, she even sat next to a young Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier at St. Bridget Church, the home parish of Kelly's family, though the glamorous movie star did not attend school there.

Crowley, who is 72, runs a resource room at the school for students who need help with math. St. Bridget teachers are creative, she said.

"It's not just book work with our teachers. They make the book come alive," she said. "The children do wonderful plays. You would think you were on Broadway."

The closure hurts, Crowley said, but she understands the decision.

"Everybody was upset, naturally, but it's like everything else in our world, firemen, policemen," she said. "There is not enough money to go around."

As Crowley spoke in the doorway of her convent on Friday, a woman wept nearby in the parking lot, grieving the news that St. Bridget would close and merge with Holy Child School in Manayunk.

"It's just tough," said the woman. She declined to talk further because she did not want to be upset in front of her daughter.

Founded in 1853, St. Bridget Church grew along with East Falls. Today, about 195 children from prekindergarden through eighth grade attend the school.

Christine Bischoff's sons Ben, 7, and Jake, 4, attend the school, and she had hoped Zach, almost 2, would follow his brothers. The boys' father and five uncles attended St. Bridget, and so did their grandmother, grandfather, and other relatives.

She attended the now-closed St. John the Baptist School in Manayunk. She and her husband were married at that church but moved to St. Bridget for their boys.

"What I had wanted always was the package deal - a parish and the school together," she said.

The closure caught Bischoff's husband, Chris, off guard, too. "Chris said he felt a little sick to his stomach - for him, it's not just about the kids. That's his school."

After their initial shock, the Bischoffs collected themselves to tell the boys. "Ben said: 'When, right now? Can I go there on Monday?' He was really nervous it was immediate."

The family isn't sure where they'll send the boys next. They will choose another Catholic school, Christine Bischoff said, but not necessarily Holy Child. They'll visit multiple schools and are open to switching parishes, too.

"If I'm looking for positives, the boys are at a good age for this to happen, I guess," Christine Bischoff said. "But it's still heartbreaking."

Not even a group of former and current powerful politicians - including a former governor and current lieutenant governor - could save Conwell-Egan High.

Just before the holidays, a connected group of alumni gathered at Dacey's Pub in Morrisville to discuss the plight of the school, which was created in 1993 through the merger of all-boys Bishop Egan in Fairless Hills and all-girls Bishop Conwell in Levittown. They talked about raising money, about helping to drive up enrollment.

John Cordisco, current Bucks County Democratic committee chairman, was there. So were former Gov. Mark Schweiker, U.S. Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, all alums.

"Obviously, the archdiocese had the plan, and I think our pitch may have been a little too late," said Cordisco, a 1973 Egan grad, lawyer, and a former state House member. "I don't believe there's much we can do at this point to alter that decision."

The school now educates 570 students. Its building in Fairless Hills is at just 38 percent capacity.

The camaraderie among Egan graduates is very special and transcends just about everything, including politics, said Cordisco. Schweiker, Fitzpatrick, and Cawley are all Republicans.

"We were guys that had a special relationship that went beyond politics or business or even community. The school and spirit of the school broke those boundaries down," said Cordisco.

Memories of classes, dances, sporting events, and friends flooded Cordisco when he heard the news.

"The school is so rich in history and obviously memories," he said. "To think that it's not going to be there next year, I think is going to be very difficult for many of the alums who live in the area and outside the area."

For Cordisco, the Conwell-Egan loss comes on top of the past closure of St. Ann, where he attended elementary school. St. Ann's students transferred to St. Mark's in Bristol.

Now, St. Mark's is closing.

"I think that many alumni and parents are feeling very distraught and helpless at the moment. We may understand the economics of the archdiocese's decision, but it still has its emotional toll," he said.

Even though school let out early on Friday, Conwell-Egan juniors Shannon Stricker and Megan Pettemer didn't want to leave.

"We just milled around campus and supported each other," Pettemer said. "We were devastated."

The girls, who attended the Conwell-Egan basketball game against West Catholic on Friday night, said they were unsure where they would spend their senior year.

"This is a big family school, and even though it had been rumored, it didn't really hit us until they told us today it was on the list," Stricker said. "It's so sad. I hoped to finish here. It's not going to happen now."

It has been an Ambler fixture for decades.

Formerly separate schools, St. Anthony of Padua and St. Joseph, the two merged into Ambler Catholic in the 1970s. After St. Anthony's Church burned down in 2000, a new church and school addition were built.

Officials decided to rename the school on Forest Avenue to reflect its parish roots.

"We've been here in the community for 94 years," said Denise Sabia, mother of three children, all of whom attend the school. "We've been doing anything we can to keep the school going - parents putting in hours and hours of their time."

There were fund-raisers and lawn signs, marketing plans, and SASJ "parent ambassadors." They had momentum - an uptick in enrollment this year, and dreams of saving the school.

The school, which has produced multiple finalists in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, is a haven, a place bursting with school spirit, boosters say. Its current enrollment is about 160 students, down from 210 in 2006.

The archdiocese is asking parents to send their children to a new regional school to be formed at the site of St. Alphonsus in Maple Glen. Students from St. Catherine of Siena in Horsham will also join that school.

But "SASJ is the best school a child could ask for," one fifth grader wrote in the school's newsletter. "I want to come here until 8th grade. I am proud of SASJ because we don't let anything get us down, and we are the best!"

Sabia loved that SASJ's nursery program meant that her 3-year-old, Jonas, could wave to her kindergartner, Lucy, and first grader, Camille, at lunch.

"They learned to be independent in an intimate setting," Sabia said. "It was nice to have 15 kids in a class, and you knew every parent was involved."

Anne Delaney considered many schools - Catholic and public - for Liam, a third grader, and Bryn, a first grader.

"But we just got a really warm feeling here," said Delaney.

She understands that part of the school's charm - its size - was its downfall. There were 19 children in Liam's kindergarten class. There are 11 in his third-grade class.

"I know that's not the ideal capacity," Delaney said.

Even before the news hit, nerves were raw. At an all-school Mass on Friday, "the choir and all the kids were singing the school song, and every mom in the church was crying, and some of the kids, too. We all knew something was going to happen," Delaney said.

When they heard the news, Bryn cried for more than an hour. Liam got quiet; he wept, too.

"It's just that these decisions feel like business decisions instead of, 'These are our kids,' " Delaney said. "If they had come out and talked to parents and saw the school, it might have been different."

at 215-854-5146, kgraham@phillynews.com, or on Twitter @newskag. Read her blog, "Philly School Files," at www.philly.com/schoolfiles.