September 2003
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus School
The Pastoral Plan of Cluster 18,(the Catholic Churches of Northwest Philadelphia) approved by Cardinal Bevilacqua in February of 1999, had as its second goal to “develop cluster wide processes and practices to insure the maintenance, development and viability of quality Catholic schools.” Over the past four years much effort has been put into realizing this goal specifically the development of a Cluster Development Office. The Development Office had as its mission to raise needed funds to support the Catholic Schools of the cluster. Although the Development Office never got off the ground the schools of Cluster 18 have worked individually and cooperatively to market quality Catholic Education in each of the schools and to promote increased enrollment.
At this time one of the parish sponsored schools in Cluster 18, St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish feels it is necessary to take an immediate and serious look at the future mission and possible viability of its grade school. Here is some background which has guided us to this point.
Phase I - Marketing and Recruitment ( Spring 1999-present)
Cluster 18 schools joined together to market Catholic education and
promote increased enrollment. Efforts were made, but failed because of lack of funding, to establish a Cluster Development office which would have guided and aided efforts to keep quality Catholic education available and affordable.
Phase II- School Self-Study (Spring / Early Summer 2003)
Cluster 18 schools assessed the quality of Catholic Education in their own programs by standards established by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Each school completed a self-study that examined Catholic identity, educational programs, demographics, temporalities and school facilities.
Phase III- Request for Formal Study (Summer 2003)
After consultation with the Parish Pastoral Council, Finance Council and the Principal, the Pastor of St. Therese requested permission from the Archbishop to begin a formal study to determine possible options including closing the school.
Phase IV- Feasibility Study (Fall 2003)
Establishment of a Parish Steering committee to guide a prayerful reflection and evaluation of how and if we can continue to provide quality Catholic education here at St. Therese. The committee will be charged with looking at all pertinent information as well as consulting with all parishioners and parents of school children.
Our parish steering committee will be hosting a parish meeting for all parishioners and parents as part of the consultative process for the feasibility study. At this meeting, a survey will be distributed. I hope that all interested parties will make it a priority to attend this meeting.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday evening, September 30th at 7:00 p.m in the Church.