Archdiocese can't wait for this school to start
Named for Pope John Paul II, the state-of-the-art Upper Providence facility is the first new archdiocesan high school in 43 years. It replaces Kennedy-Kenrick and St. Pius X.
By Kathy Boccella
Inquirer Staff Writer
The last time the Archdiocese of Philadelphia opened a new high school, Mass was in Latin, Catholics couldn't eat meat on Fridays, and abortion was illegal.
That was 43 years ago, when suburban Catholic families - along with archdiocesan high schools - were multiplying almost as fast as the biblical loaves and fishes.
How times have changed.
Opening next month in Upper Providence Township is the $65 million, tricked-out Pope John Paul II High School. It replaces two high schools - Kennedy-Kenrick in Norristown and St. Pius X just outside Pottstown - that had limped along for years with empty desks.
"It's a completely new ball game," said the Rev. Alan Okon Jr., president of the sparkling new PJP, as it's nicknamed. "This is the gold standard."
The school is indeed a testament to technology, with each student getting a netbook, classes equipped with smartboards, two rooms capable of distance learning, and fiber-optic Internet connection throughout, among other gee-whiz must-haves.
They ensure that this Catholic school is competitive with the best public and private schools and prepares students for the future, said Mary E. Rochford, superintendent of archdiocese schools.
"Faith formation is still our main focus, but any parent today wants to know what the academic program is going to do to ensure a good place in a reputable college for their child," she said. "It's a different time. We have to be very deliberate about educating our students for the world we're going to live in, not the world we're coming out of."
When she attended Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia, Rochford said, no one thought of going to the school to interview the principal. The venerable Dougherty and Northeast Catholic High School for Boys closed this year, victims of rising costs, falling enrollment, and competition from publicly funded city charter schools.
But parents have been flocking to PJP "with their notebooks and checklists. They want to hear what we're offering. They want to be convinced."
The Lopez family saw enough on a visit to enroll ninth grader Andrew, who had attended the private Wyndcroft School in Pottstown.
Because of the academic program, emphasis on technology, and state-of-the art facilities, "we have to give it a shot," said Elba Lopez, Andrew's mother, who had looked at several private schools as well.
"For us the religion component really had nothing to do with it, though it's great that's being added to the overall experience," said Lopez, who is Catholic and lives in Royersford just seven minutes from the school.
The Steiert family and many others will have a much longer commute since the school will draw from a large swath of Montgomery County. The archdiocese has open enrollment, and students can go to any school they want.
"Without traffic, 25 minutes," Kathy Steiert, who lives in East Norriton, said of her daughter's ride to school.
"It is going to be a hike for a lot of kids, but at least the people I know who have chosen to send their kids there feel it will be worth it," she said.
Steiert was "sickened" when she heard Kennedy-Kenrick was closing, she said. She is an alumna, and her daughter had a great freshman year.
"My daughter loved it," she said. "She was sad when it closed. But already she's excited about the new school. It's beautiful. It's hard not to be excited when you see the building."
Steiert's favorite thing: the 1,200-seat auditorium.
"It's the most beautiful I've ever seen in a high school. There's a big stage, stadium seating," she said, noting that Kennedy-Kenrick's dreary gym had subbed for an auditorium. "The main gym is just beautiful, too."
That's right, the main gym. There are two.
It seems technology isn't the only selling point for choosy families.
"A successful athletic program is critical to the enrollment of any high school," said Okon, who was president of the two shuttered high schools.
It's no miracle that the archdiocese chose Upper Providence. Montgomery County has shown a slight uptick in Catholic households, though not enough to support the two older schools.
When it closed last year, Kennedy-Kenrick was like a ghost town with 400 students. In its heyday, it enrolled 3,500.
Bishop McDevitt, in Wyncote, serves eastern Montgomery County, while Lansdale Catholic is in the northern part of the county.
Unlike the colossal Catholic schools of old, PJP can accommodate 1,200 students. It will open Sept. 10 with 900 - 50 more than projected, but about the combined enrollment of the two schools it replaces.
That's big enough to ensure financial stability and offer a wide array of programs for students, but small enough to feel almost like a private school, Okon said.
Though PJP is new and Bishop Shanahan moved to a new building in Downingtown in 1998, plans for another new school, in Hilltown, have slowed, Rochford said.
"We certainly want it. Making these decisions five years ago, we didn't know that the economy was going to go south," she said.
Set on 84 acres, PJP boasts 35 classrooms, five science labs, three computer labs, and a half-dozen playing fields. A sports wing and fine-arts wing flank the main academic facility.
The school is equipped with central air-conditioning and a sophisticated surveillance and security system.
None of which comes cheap. Parents will have to pay $6,350 - $1,000 more than the systemwide tuition - for their children to attend.
Said Okon, "We're worth every penny."
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The following is Tom Crosset's letter to the writer of the above article.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Kathy,
I congratulate you on your writing today to describe the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's pride on the opening of it new, "state of the art" high school in Pottstown. To quote its President, the Rev. Alan Okon, Jr. "This is the gold standard." What you wrote was accurate but portrays a one sided picture of this development. I recognize your goal might just be informational but developments like these are founded on more tragic events. Comments from Rev. Okon, Jr. are out of touch with the reality our our strained economic times with unemployment reported at 10% where in reality it is closer to 20%.
I found it interesting you writing about the closing of Kennedy Kenrick, Cardinal Dougherty and North Catholic. Each of these schools are in impoverished areas of the city whereas Pope John Paul II is located in the western suburbs in the tony, white suburbs of the city. Interesting too, is the fact that a primary source of funding for the construction of this school and the one slated for Hilltown (also a tony, white enclave in Bucks County) is the Heritage of Faith, a Archdiocesan wide fund raiser with part of its aim to provide capital funding for these schools. Each Parish had a stated goal to achieve with a portion of this goal targeted to these high schools. So, for instance, parishioners of Holy Innocents who contributed to this campaign are
directly responsible for the construction of these two "gold standard" schools. At the same time, the Archdiocese decided that the inner city school that their son would have attended should be closed. Somehow I find it difficult to rationalize. Has the Archdiocese offered a plan to any of these children and
their parents to attend this school so that they might enjoy this gold standard? Let me answer that for you, no it has not.
There is no question to many of us the once again, the Archdiocese is "Catholic Chasing" at the detriment of inner city youth. At North Catholic, student population was declining as it is with most Catholic High Schools in the city. This year will be an anomaly because transferring students from Kenrick, Dougherty and North are adding to to those high schools within its proximity. Never Kathy, did North cost the Archdiocese a penny. All deficits were paid and would have continued to be paid into the future. All that really happened is the
Archdiocese abandoning the middle, middle to low and the low class in areas of the city that surely are in need of faith.
Always ask yourself one question, "What would Jesus do?"
My faith tells me that he would have acted much differently because religion is here to serve all, indiscriminately. The actions of a few within the Archdiocese and certain Orders of Priests acted only in its best interests. Don't you find it interesting that the main person responsible for these actions is no longer at the Archdiocese. In fact, he was promoted, now the Bishop of Harrisburg. Is there much difference between Enron, Worldcom and the Archdiocese? Think about it.
Tom Crossett
North Catholic Asst. Varsity Soccer Coach
Class of 1975
