Catholic schools serving low-income students to open in Delaware

National Catholic Reporter, March 21, 2003 by Gary Morton

Two Catholic schools aimed at serving low-income students are scheduled to open in the Wilmington, Del., diocese this fall.

The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales are planning to open a tuition-free school called Nativity Prep for boys of middle-school age. Initially, the school will have classes for 15 to 20 fifth- and sixth-grade students and eventually it will expand to include 60 boys in fifth through eighth grades.

The Ministry of Caring, an interfaith group led by Capuchin Franciscan Fr. Ronald Giannone, will open St. Francis Prep. It is envisioned as a cooperative venture between the interfaith group and local businesses that will keep tuition low for its students.

Both schools will attempt to meet what organizers see as a lack of educational opportunity for students from low-income families.

Oblate Fr. Thomas Curran, president of Salesianum High School, will be the executive director of Nativity Prep. He said the Oblates in Wilmington are recommitting themselves to Salesianum, to Wilmington "and to the educational needs of those at risk and poor here in the city where we started."

Nativity Prep's goal will be to help each student earn a scholarship to a private high school in the Wilmington area, Curran said. Eventually, he said, the school will have 60 students and 12 teachers--a student-to-teacher ratio of 5 to 1.

"That's almost individualized instruction, the priest told The Dialog, Wilmington's diocesan newspaper.

Nativity Prep's schedule will include classes from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., team sports for all students from 3 to 5 p.m., a dinner break and on-campus study from 7 to 9 p.m. Optional field trips to cultural and historical places and events will be scheduled most Saturdays.

Students will be required to perform a quarterly service project, also on a Saturday, and will attend a summer program.

The Oblates will own and operate both Salesianum and Nativity Prep, and Curran will remain president of Salesianum and executive director of Nativity for up to three years. But the schools will operate independently.

Nativity Mission Center in New York City developed the model for schools like Nativity Prep in 1971. Schools using the concept include Mother Seton Academy in Baltimore, the Gesu School in Philadelphia, and Nativity School of Harrisburg, Pa. More than 40 such schools operate nationwide.

The planned high school, St. Francis Prep, is expected to open in September with 68 students. But the opening could be delayed, according to Giannone, because financial support, location and other details were still being worked out.

As a model, school organizers have looked at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago.

Cristo Rey opened with a job-sharing program called the Corporate Internship Program in 1996. It places students in entry-level jobs at businesses and corporations, and they work five days a month and attend classes four days a week. The money students earn covers about 70 percent of their tuition and the students' families pay the remainder.

Students who qualify for the Wilmington high school will be those who do not meet academic qualifications for other private schools in the area and who need remedial education. Giannone said financial aid and academic scholarships will be available.

"We're committed to the needs of the poor, whether it is housing or education or whatever," he said. "We want poverty and homelessness to go away. If we can offer a good education for these kids, they are not going to be coming back to us as the homeless."