The ‘Miracle in Drexell Hill’ continues for Bonner & Prendie
Everyone connected with Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast had resigned themselves to the worst – or at least what the faithful believed to be the worst.
But no one expected what happened next.
A blue ribbon panel assembled by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to recommend changes and a restructuring in their struggling school system had been pondering the schools’ fate for months.
Most expected that the long tradition of separate boys and girls schools was about to go by the boards.
But the announcement from the commission was not that the schools be merged. It was that both be closed, ending more than six decades of Catholic high school tradition in Upper Darby.
It was a haymaker that no one saw coming, a punch to the gut that rocked the Bonner and Prendie communities. That was five years ago. What happened in the immediate aftermath of the panel’s ruling was a mixture of shock, surprise and anger mixed with a lot of tears.
But the shock and tears soon melted away. The anger was channeled into action. Alumni and the faithful appealed the ruling and vowed to save their schools. They did more than that. They saved not only Bonner and Prendie, but three other high schools as well, including West Catholic.
How did they do it? The way you might expect. With prayer – and lots of money. The group raised millions of dollars, saving not only their school but establishing the blueprint for the nonprofit group Faith in the Future, which now holds strategic and operational control over 22 archdiocesan schools, combining a new managerial direction with an ongoing, aggressive style of fundraising. In those five years, the merged Bonner & Prendie have basically reinvented themselves. The school now has a formal 17-member board of directors, comprised of alumni, local religious, business and school leaders. They report to John Cooke, president of Bonner&Prendie, and Scott Fremont, director of institutional advancement.
The school has sunk more than a million dollars into capital and physical improvements over the past five years. The updated campus now features wireless and has Smart Boards in every classroom.
This is not the “old-school” parochial version of education that these kids’ mothers and fathers likely experienced.
Every student is given an iPad mini to use. The school’s gym was completely renovated and now carries the name of the Dominic F. Frederico Gymnasium. The same holds true for the Anthony F. Frederico Class of 1969 Auditorium, which now features new seating, lighting and stage doors. A school production of “Willy Wonka” will be its first big event in a couple of weeks.
Academics also has been revamped. A program called RealCollege in conjunction with six local universities allows Bonner&Prendie juniors and seniors to earn college-level credits at a fraction of the cost, literally getting a jumpstart on their college careers.
Enrollment has stabilized at slightly more than 800 students, still a tad less than the 965 at the two schools in 2012, but not the freefall enrollment had been experiencing in years leading up to the blue ribbon panel’s work.
Make no mistake, attending a parochial high school is not cheap. In the last few years the school moved to “one-cost” allinclusive tuition, replacing the many activity fees, school fees and other costs that used to be billed separately.
Base tuition as set by the Office of Catholic Education for all the high schools stands at $7,350. In addition, Bonner & Prendie charges a $1,500 fee that includes all school fees.
Five years ago, no one expected the recommendation that both Bonner and Prendie be closed.
Likewise, not many people gave them a chance at saving their beloved schools.
The credit for that goes to the Rev. James Olson. The former Bonner-Prendie president first had to minister to the shattered souls – and psyche – of his flock after the ruling that their schools be closed.
Then he had to weigh whether to take a stand and appeal the ruling, taking his case directly to Archbishop Charles Chaput.
In order to do that, Rev. Olson was more than a little familiar with an old saying, something along the lines of “bull walks, money talks.” Sorry about the language, Father.
Olson knew that if he was going to change the commission’s ruling, he needed to do more than talk a good game.
Five years later, the “Miracle in Drexel Hill” continues.
Once consigned to death row, Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast gave new meaning to the old saying: Hell hath no fury like a school community scorned.
They turned Mission Impossible into Mission Accomplished.