Keeping faith in Catholic education

Luz Carabello, her husband, and their two children left Camden last May and moved into their new home in West Deptford. But Carabello, a Camden native who lived in the city for most of her life, never considered taking her son and daughter out of Camden's St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral School.

Carabello, 30, was the first member of her family to graduate from high school and college. Now an emergency-room nurse at Inspira Medical Center in Woodbury, she said she owed her success to Camden's Catholic schools.

"It opened doors," said Carabello, who attended Holy Name School and later earned a scholarship to Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill. "It's not just a school to us. It gave me stability, it motivated me, it showed me what was possible. . . . If it wasn't for the education I got, I would not have become a nurse."

Though Catholic schools across New Jersey and Pennsylvania have faced uncertainty - nationwide, more than 150 Catholic schools closed in 2013 - Camden's small network of five schools has been steady for decades, according to the Diocese of Camden.

Enrollment among the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools, four of which are in Camden and one in Pennsauken, has for years hovered around 1,000. There have been no closures for more than a decade, despite the expansion of the city's network of charter and Renaissance schools, which offers parents more choices in where to send their children.

"Camden is very well served by the Catholic schools," said Peter Feuerherd, a spokesman for the diocese. "These schools have been stable for many years. Camden is somewhat unique in that regard."

Camden's Catholic schools were founded on the principle of helping immigrant families assimilate to the community, a mission that school leaders say they still fulfill. Sixty percent of students are Hispanic, and 30 percent African American.

Sister Karen Dietrich, executive director of the Catholic Partnership Schools, an organization formed to manage the schools, said they had survived with help from a strong donor base, a commitment from the diocese, and efficient spending. Most families pay between $900 and $1,000 per student in annual tuition, Dietrich said.

And in a community where religion is a large part of life for many residents, Dietrich believes there will always be a place for Catholic schools.

"What we can offer that no other school can is the faith piece," Dietrich said last week. "These schools have been anchors in these communities for almost a century, and we've worked hard to retain the traditions and the legacies here."

That's why Dietrich is not concerned by the changes coming to the city's schools. Last year, Camden's first Renaissance schools - public-charter hybrids that guarantee placement to neighborhood children - were approved to open. Last month the district, which is run by the state, announced that five additional district schools would become Renaissance schools this year and be placed under new leadership.

Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard, appointed by Gov. Christie, often speaks publicly about giving Camden parents more options for their children's education. In those words, Dietrich sees an opportunity to raise the profile of Camden's Catholic schools.

"We have been here, heads down, working hard, getting great results for decades," Dietrich said. "I think the time has come for us to frame our place in the educational landscape of the city."

The Catholic Partnership School organization was established in 2009 to manage the schools, paying bills out of one office and combining funding for activities such as sports teams. Dietrich said the somewhat unusual partnership has cut down on red tape and led to more collaborative relationships between principals.

Ninety-one percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is comparable to the district. They serve comparable numbers of non-English speaking and special-education students. Per-pupil spending stands at about $8,000, less than the state average and far less than the district's $27,000 per-pupil cost.

More than 77 percent of eighth-grade students tested as proficient in language arts last year, Dietrich said. Forty percent of those students went on to accept scholarships to Catholic high schools outside the city. The schools track students who remain in the Catholic network and have found that 96 percent of them attend college.

Carabello, the Holy Name graduate, said her parents came to Camden from Puerto Rico before she was born. Her mother stayed at home while her father worked as a cook and took on odd jobs. Money was tight, she said, but they prioritized paying for her and her siblings to attend Holy Name.

"People talk about how bad Camden is, but I didn't see that growing up," she said. "Home was great and school was great, and that's all I knew."

Now she believes her 13-year-old son, Randy, and 7-year-old daughter, Kiani, are receiving the same education she got. She's in constant communication with their teachers, she said, her children come home happy, and the administrators know her name.

"You hear about the LEAP schools and the other charters, and you hear about how great the education is there," Carabello said. "And I'm sure that it is.

"But what you don't hear is how it's like family, and how they integrate their faith into daily life for the students. And that's what's important to us."