St. William School in Lawncrest. Image/Google Maps

Before the doors close for good at St. William’s School in Lawncrest, current and former students are invited for one final celebration.

In January, the Blue Ribbon Commission recommended the 87-year-old school merge with St. Cecilia’s in Fox Chase – one of my merger and closure recommendations for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Following a successful appeal by St. Cecilia’s, the Fox Chase school will remain open on its own. The St. William’s school building will close as planned, and parents can choose where to send their children instead. continue reading »

NEast Links: Bringing you additional Northeast news

Police critically wounded the man who tried to rob the Pantry 1 Food Mart and the 7-Eleven early Thursday along the 5300-block of Harbison Avenue. An officer fired when the suspect allegedly pointed a gun [CBS3].

Also in the 15th District, police are looking for two men involved in a shooting at Leiper and Foulkrod streets. A 53-year-old man was shot in the hand and hip early Wednesday, suffering non-life-threatening injuries [Action News]. continue reading »

The doors of St. Hubert's and the other 16 Archdiocese of Philadelphia high schools will be open this week for prospective students. File photo/Shannon McDonald

High schools around the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are opening their doors this week and inviting prospective students to “see our schools.”

Part of the Faith in the Future Foundation’s marketing effort, the open houses will give future high school students and their families a chance to tour schools and speak with students and faculty.

Events began last night at Pope John Paul  II High School, and will continue through Sunday at all 17 high schools.

• St. Hubert’s High School: Thursday, March 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• Archbishop Ryan High School: Saturday, March 24, 2 p.m to 4 p.m.
• Father Judge High School, Sunday, March 25, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

St. Hubert's graduate and Advisory Board member Kathy Ott Lovell (center) at a Jan. 13 rally outside the school. Photo/Michelle Alton

Just because St. Hubert’s High School has been spared closure doesn’t mean the efforts to keep it open are through.

Advisory Board members Kathy Ott Lovell and Tom Forkin were at last night’s Holmesburg Civic Association meeting to thank residents for their support during the closure appeal and let them know what’s in store for the future.

“We flew into action,” Ott Lovell said about the board’s reaction to the Jan. 6 announcement that the school was among four Archdiocese of Philadelphia high schools to close at the end of this school year. Looking ahead, she said, “We will not take the school for granted. We will not take this community for granted.” continue reading »

St. Hubert's grad Rachael Fleming (L) with sisters Rebecca, a junior; and Elizabeth (R), a freshman.

Jan.6 2012, the moment I had dreaded since I had first heard the rumors, was here. The phone rang and hearing the message brought tears to my eyes. The high school that I had graduated from three years prior and the one that my sisters now go to was going to close.

The Blue Ribbon commission had recommended Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls for closure, along with West Catholic, Conwell-Egan, and Bonner-Prendie. I know how upsetting it was to hear that my school was going to close, and I could only imagine how the families involved in the other schools were feeling. It was heartbreaking to see the looks on the students’ faces and know that they had to think about where they would want to go to school next year. Juniors – like my sister – who were supposed to be looking at colleges, had to start looking at other high schools.
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St. Hubert's students rally on Torresdale Avenue in January. Photo/Michelle Alton

All of the Philadelphia Catholic high schools that were slated to close, will stay open. Archbishop Charles Chaput delivered the good news for Conwell-Egan, Saint Hubert, Monsignor Bonner, Archbishop Prendergast, and West Philadelphia Catholic High School on Friday.  Students, teachers, and parents had been eagerly awaiting the decision.

Word that the high schools will stay open generated praise from many corners.

State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams of Philadelphia summed up the feelings expressed by many at the announcement,

“This is not just a joyous day, this is a miraculous day,” said Williams.

Edward Hanway is a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission that initially recommended shuttering the high schools because of falling enrollment and troubled finances.  He said gifts from anonymous donors as well as fundraising by the schools mean they have enough money to keep them open at least two more years.

Read the rest of this story from our partners at NewsWorks.

St. Hubert's students rally on Torresdale Avenue in January. Photo/Michelle Alton

Catholic schools across the Philadelphia area are waiting for some big news.  On Friday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will announce if schools slated to close or consolidate will be allowed to stay open.  As at many other schools, there is sadness and anticipation at St. Hubert’s, the largest Catholic girls’ high school in Philadelphia.

It’s not a challenge to find a Hubert’s student ready to speak passionately about the school.

“This is the reason I wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning and I don’t leave until 7:15 at night everyday,” said junior Claire Alminde. “Everything that I do and everything that I basically am, is this school.  It’s like the funnest place on Earth, besides Disney World.” continue reading »

St. Basil Academy in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, will hold a second open house next week for high school transfer students.

The all-girls private school held the first transfer open house last month, just weeks after the Blue Ribbon Commission recommended that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia close four of its high schools, including the Northeast’s St. Hubert’s. About 50 families attended the first open house. continue reading »

St. Hubert's students rallied outside the school in January a week after being told their school could close. Photo/Michelle Alton

Philadelphia’s arena football team has pledged to help St. Hubert’s high school stay open, but it will require work on the school’s part.

The campaign to help the all-girls school requires the St. Hubert’s community to purchase as many as 5,000 Philadelphia Soul tickets in exchange for a $100,000 donation to the school.

That’s the high end of the spectrum. If 1,000 tickets are purchased, the school will get $15,000. For 2,500 ticket sales, St. Hubert’s will receive $40,000. The math breaks down to $15 of each ticket being put back into the school, as Chicke’s and Pete’s owner and Soul co-owner Pete Ciarrocchi explained in the press announcement yesterday. Tickets must be purchased by Feb. 15. continue reading »

For four years of our lives – definitely some of the most formative years of our lives – high schools become our second homes. In addition to classes, we might spend additional time there for extracurricular activities. Then when we go home, we do additional work for school that essentially permeates into the rest of our lives. With so much time dedicated to school, we doubtless have an endless amount of stories and other memories, many of which are hopefully positive.

If we are ever forced to part ways with our childhood homes – whether due to moving, foreclosure or something more negative – we would feel like a part of us has been destroyed. We feel as if our identities are being stripped away, identities that soon exist as nothing more than memories.

I believe the case is the same in terms of how we view our school years. Now I am lucky enough to have gone to a high school, Archbishop Ryan, that will hopefully be immune to closure for a long time due to it being co-ed and its accessible location with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia – right on the edge of Northeast Philadelphia and almost right down the street from the suburbs.

Not everybody is so lucky. Take my parents, for instance. My father graduated from Northeast Catholic, which closed in June 2010. And the Archdiocese suggested at the beginning of the month that my mom’s alma mater, St. Hubert’s, be one of nearly 50 schools to close at the end of the school year. The future will be certain once the Archdiocese announces its official decision in mid-February. continue reading »