North Philadelphia Catholic School Finds A Band Of Fundraising Angels
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - After years of declining enrollment and school closings in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, there was some good news today at an inner-city Philadelphia Catholic school.
Students at St. Martin de Porres School serenaded Bishop Tim Senior as he signed a deal turning the school over to an independent board of directors who will fundraise to insure the school's continued operation.
Senior (at left in photo) acknowledges that the school, in the heart of North Philadelphia, fits the profile of those the archdiocese has been steadily closing.
"It would certainly be challenging to maintain this enrollment -- 400 children -- in a school where it's hard for us to draw the resources from the community itself," Senior said. "The archdiocese can't subsidize it to the degree that would be required on its own. We need this kind of partnership here."
The partnership is with a group of suburban businessmen who simply decided to make the school its pet project.
The principal, Sister Nancy Fitzgerald (seated in photo, second from right), calls it a miracle.
"People took a look at us, and I think when they came they were captured by the mission, the students, who we were at 23rd and Lehigh, and it touched hearts," she tells KYW Newsradio.
Bishop Senior says he hopes the arrangement can be replicated in other struggling archdiocesan schools.
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060
