Bonner. Honor.: There's life after closure for Catholic schools

WHEN William Brannick was a sophomore, he learned that his school in Chester, St. James Catholic High School for Boys, would be closed.

"You felt confused and, in a sense, you felt alone and abandoned," Brannick, 34, said yesterday. "At that age, as an adolescent, you felt that life could not go on from that point."

But it did.

Brannick's life went on at Monsignor Bonner High School, in Drexel Hill, where he transferred as a junior and thrived.

In the 16 years since he graduated, there were only two years when Brannick wasn't intimately involved with Bonner in some way, either as coach, teacher, administrator, or all three.

Today he's the principal at all-boys Bonner and its sister school, all-girls Archbishop Prendergast.

"It's a place I've been for the large majority of my life," he said. "I've made the same drive every morning, and many times I've spent more time there than in my own home."

And therein lies the pain of Friday's announcement from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that in September, Bonner and Prendergast will be among four high schools to be closed, along with 45 elementary schools. The other high schools slated to shutter are West Catholic, St. Hubert and Conwell-Egan.

These edifices of education are not just places of learning for students, or places to work for teachers - they are the homes of families birthed not of blood, but of faith, tradition and friendship.

Perhaps no one knows that more intimately than Brannick.

"These schools truly do create families, and when you close a school it is similar to pulling a family apart," he said. "Individuals who may not have attended these schools have a difficult time recognizing that, but when you go to them, the tremendous amount of pride you have is truly indescribable."

Although the future does not look bright, Brannick is not ready to give up on his schools. He and other administrators are researching what appeals process, if any, is available, he said.

When Brannick's former school, St. James, closed in 1993, he and his family visited four area high schools to see which he'd like to attend.

Within his first two steps onto the campus, Brannick knew that Bonner was his school. Father Jack Denny, who was principal at the time, was wearing a St. James sweatshirt and standing on a table with a bullhorn when students arrived to check out the campus.

"That showed his commitment to us as young men, and the personality and spirit the school embodied," Brannick said.

At first, Brannick sometimes felt intimidated - like when he had to play with the Bonner football players he'd always played against - but in just a few weeks he felt at home.

After graduation, Brannick attended what is now Penn State Brandywine, in Media, for two years. In his freshman year at college, he began coaching football at Bonner, which continued until he left for Penn State's main campus for his final two years.

After college graduation, Brannick started coaching again at Bonner, also becoming a teacher of economics and web design in 2001.

"It was very surreal, I was teaching alongside these men and women who taught me," he said. "I was also able to relate really well to students because I could tell them, literally, 'I was sitting in the same seats you are sitting in a few years ago.' "

After just three years of teaching, Brannick was named assistant principal for student affairs. In 2007, a year after Bonner and Prendergast became linked, Brannick was named school principal.

"I have essentially spent my whole adult working career on this campus and working for this community," he said.

Although he knew that every Catholic school in the Archdiocese was in jeopardy last week, Brannick believed that his two schools would be merged before they'd be closed.

On Friday, Brannick had to deliver the news to an auditorium of students and teachers.

"I was the one who formally said the words," he said. "It was a feeling I never felt before . . . it was heart-wrenching. Working in any school system, especially a parochial-school system, you know that you may have to say that at some point, but it was certainly not this time I thought I would have to say it."

But Brannick holds out hope - as do the 4,462 people who had signed an online petition as of last night to keep Bonner and Prendie open.

He said that many parents appproached him on Friday wondering about how to fight the closings. School officials are learning that "there could be an appeals process," and they are looking at how feasible it is, Brannick said.

An appeal will not be based on emotion alone, he stressed. Officials will gather data from the school community to gauge whether parents and alumni would support a merger.

"If we cannot gather that support, we will not put our kids through raising their hopes only to have to come back and tell them we're still closing," Brannick said. "I went through that at St. James, and it was a roller-coaster of emotion."

As for today, Brannick said, school officials will start the morning with a community liturgy, doing what they do best: coming together in prayer.

The rest of the year will be a lot of work, but Brannick said that it will not be a year of lasts. He said that he doesn't want students to see events like the "last junior prom" or the "last graduation" - he wants them to see it as "their junior prom" or "their graduation."

Whatever happens, Brannick knows that the students and staff have what it takes to get through.

"The age-old question is, 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' " he said. "It's because those individuals can handle what takes place.

"Regardless if the kids are in the building or not next year, they will always have the pride of being a Bonner or Prendie student, and that will be able to get them through whatever comes their way."