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Who I feel bad for is all the teachers losing their jobs. Something like 1,700 teachers lost their job.
Some HS teachers will have job security, but NONE of the elementary school teachers will be guaranteed a job. They will have to re-apply for a position at a another school is they want to be considered.
Thats messed up.
The Archdiocese told the HS union that 50 teachers will be be cut but the number will be much higher. Agreed, the poor elementary school teachers are going to have a tough road ahead.
Good riddance to West Catholic. Seriously. I graduated from there so I can say this. They should have closed 5-10 years ago. It really says a lot when the school is 70% non-Catholic. This is due to the fact that the student population is predominantly African American.
When I went there I had to pay full price for my tokens and my dad had to pay full price tuition for me and my brother. I can't help but wonder if the kids there today are paying full tuition. I think NOT.
Who the hell cares what religion the students who attend the schools are and who the hell cares what their race is?
The fact is that people are leaving the catholic church is DROVES. Like many of Catholics I grew up with I am not Catholic today. The best way to ensure your child grows up to be atheist or agnostic is apparently to raise them as a catholic. The church has a serious problem.
Fact: A lot of people who go to West Catholic are not catholic. The question is why is that a problem? In fact in a church that is losing SO many people this should be viewed as an opportunity. West Catholic demonstrates to these kids the very best and most positive attributes of being a catholic. It's no surprise then that some of them convert to Catholicism while there.
This past year West Catholic baptized 9 students into the catholic faith, that may not sound like a lot, but apparently that's more than the rest of the archdiocese high schools combined.
Catholics should be over joyed that they are getting the opportunity to show the great attributes of their religion to all these children and have a positive impact on their lives. Instead this guy wants to complain about it and seem sort of like he doesn't want black people in his catholic schools.
Honestly that's how the archdiocese itself looks. I'm not just talking about closing west catholic, I'm talking about the way they've managed the area for years. There used to be a ton of Catholic schools and churches in Chester and yet when the population turned black they pulled out en mass in the 70s and 80s.
It's BS to just say this is because most black people aren't Catholic they should pull out or that black people won't attend a Catholic mass. There are plenty of black catholics in the philadelphia metro area and often times it's the predominantly black churches (BVM in Darby comes to mind) that lead the way in christening adults into the church. Those churches and schools in Chester could have stayed there and could have been a beacon of hope and keyed community building in a poverty stricken area. They could have brought a bunch more people to the Catholic religion... instead they pulled up and turned their backs on them. Sure it may have been a sound business move, but the last I checked the Catholic Church isn't a business. It's a damn religion and helping the poor is supposed to be high on their list of objectives. Besides all the money they lost in lawsuits from their priests raping children aside the Catholic Church still has PLENTY of money. Perhaps if they more interested in spreading good will and the word of their god than their bottom line, people would have a better opinion of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lititzman2003
95% of the current students receive financial assistance. Agreed, the school should have closed years ago.
This is absolutely true, however the archdiocese is not paying a single dime of this financial assistance. This assistance is provided by the school itself. A school that due to a dedicated Alumni (not including the above poster apparently) have set up countless lasting scholarships and endowments for the school. Not only are they able the able to pay for nearly the entire tuition of their student population, they also are able to foot the bill for an excellent extracurricular program that includes everything from state champion football and track teams, to a first rate culinary program (which a nearby chef actually donates his time to teach and provide materials).
They often have extremely successful fundraisers, including just this past year when a showing of the Jersey Boys raised a couple of HUNDRED thousand dollars for the school. At any given time the capital the school has is in the neighborhood of about 3 million dollars, a number that should be much higher as West Catholic actually owned it's own property and when they combined the boys and girls schools was forced to sell it to the archdioceses because the archdioceses claimed that it was their policy to own the land of all of the high schools. West Catholic was supposed to receive 5 million for this sale, money that would have been able to pay for even more scholarships, easily doubling the student population. Instead the church never paid up, claiming financial difficulties.
The fact is despite paying the tuition for the vast majority of its students West Catholic is one of the few area high schools that was operating in the black.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marius Pontmercy
There was a fight at West Catholic a couple years ago, one of the students stabbed another outside the 46th St El station. I heard it was over a girl. West Catholic definitely went downhill with the neighborhood, although it was never half as bad as West Philly High across the street.
That's true, not the best moment in the history of the school however I think it's unfair to judge the merit of the schools based on this one event. After all what high school doesn't have kids quarreling (especially over girls) regardless of its socioeconomic status.
While this happened in the past few years... another thing that happened in the past few years is the school graduated 98% of it's students, sent 95% of them to college, and 7 were Gates Millennium Scholars. Plus each year the Valedictorian of West Catholic gets a free full ride to Upenn.
This scholarship is given by the university itself. Why is West Catholic able to do so well despite basically receiving no tuition? Because anyone who lives in the area from local businesses, to the nearby universities, to former graduates, realize what a positive impact this school is on the area. What a great thing they are doing and that's why they give SO MUCH money to them.
West Catholic is nothing like any of the other Catholic high schools. It's basically a charitable organization. Giving an education to children who would in no way be able to receive it through any other means.
Some people are saying they feel the worst for the teachers not so much for the kids. I for the most part agree. Catholic school teachers work far too hard for the small amount they are paid. As underpaid as public school teachers are, Catholic school teachers are paid even far less than them. Especially grade school teachers... it's a crime honestly. These are people who do what they do because they love it, they're certainly not in it for the money, and it's not fun to think about how now a lot of these great people are out of a job.
But I do really feel for the students of West Catholics. While the Children in the other Catholic schools will just transfer to another Catholic school, the students of West Catholic have no such option. They have no chance of being able afford a single other Catholic school. Their opportunity for a better life has been cruelly taken away from them. West Catholic had the money to open it's doors again next year just as it had been for the past century. Instead a group of people decided this wasn't going to happen and these children are now SOL. Imagine being the Junior at West Catholic with the best GPA. In line to attend UPenn with a full scholarship. Instead your school is closed and your resigned to instead go to what is surely a terrible neighborhood school and lose your chance to attend one of the finest schools in the nation for free. It really breaks my heart what they did to those kids.
West Catholic High School was an example of Catholicism at its finest. At its most caring and philanthropic. A school run not of tuition but of the good will of neighbors and of the gracious thanks of former students whose lives were improved considerably by a great institution.
As a former Catholic who still sometimes roots for them to turn it around if only because so many people I care about are Catholic, and as a former resident of West Philadelphia; the closing of West Catholic greatly saddens me.
Last edited by phillies2011; 01-10-2012 at 12:28 PM..
Who the hell cares what religion the students who attend the schools are and who the hell cares what their race is?
The fact is that people are leaving the catholic church is DROVES. Like many of Catholics I grew up with I am not Catholic today. The best way to ensure your child grows up to be atheist or agnostic is apparently to raise them as a catholic. The church has a serious problem.
Fact: A lot of people who go to West Catholic are not catholic. The question is why is that a problem? In fact in a church that is losing SO many people this should be viewed as an opportunity. West Catholic demonstrates to these kids the very best and most positive attributes of being a catholic. It's no surprise then that some of them convert to Catholicism while there.
This past year West Catholic baptized 9 students into the catholic faith, that may not sound like a lot, but apparently that's more than the rest of the archdiocese high schools combined.
Catholics should be over joyed that they are getting the opportunity to show the great attributes of their religion to all these children and have a positive impact on their lives. Instead this guy wants to complain about it and seem sort of like he doesn't want black people in his catholic schools.
Honestly that's how the archdiocese itself looks. I'm not just talking about closing west catholic, I'm talking about the way they've managed the area for years. There used to be a ton of Catholic schools and churches in Chester and yet when the population turned black they pulled out en mass in the 70s and 80s.
It's BS to just say this is because most black people aren't Catholic they should pull out or that black people won't attend a Catholic mass. There are plenty of black catholics in the philadelphia metro area and often times it's the predominantly black churches (BVM in Darby comes to mind) that lead the way in christening adults into the church. Those churches and schools in Chester could have stayed there and could have been a beacon of hope and keyed community building in a poverty stricken area. They could have brought a bunch more people to the Catholic religion... instead they pulled up and turned their backs on them. Sure it may have been a sound business move, but the last I checked the Catholic Church isn't a business. It's a damn religion and helping the poor is supposed to be high on their list of objectives. Besides all the money they lost in lawsuits from their priests raping children aside the Catholic Church still has PLENTY of money. Perhaps if they more interested in spreading good will and the word of their god than their bottom line, people would have a better opinion of them.
This is absolutely true, however the archdiocese is not paying a single dime of this financial assistance. This assistance is provided by the school itself. A school that due to a dedicated Alumni (not including the above poster apparently) have set up countless lasting scholarships and endowments for the school. Not only are they able the able to pay for nearly the entire tuition of their student population, they also are able to foot the bill for an excellent extracurricular program that includes everything from state champion football and track teams, to a first rate culinary program (which a nearby chef actually donates his time to teach and provide materials).
They often have extremely successful fundraisers, including just this past year when a showing of the Jersey Boys raised a couple of HUNDRED thousand dollars for the school. At any given time the capital the school has is in the neighborhood of about 3 million dollars, a number that should be much higher as West Catholic actually owned it's own property and when they combined the boys and girls schools was forced to sell it to the archdioceses because the archdioceses claimed that it was their policy to own the land of all of the high schools. West Catholic was supposed to receive 5 million for this sale, money that would have been able to pay for even more scholarships, easily doubling the student population. Instead the church never paid up, claiming financial difficulties.
The fact is despite paying the tuition for the vast majority of its students West Catholic is one of the few area high schools that was operating in the black.
That's true, not the best moment in the history of the school however I think it's unfair to judge the merit of the schools based on this one event. After all what high school doesn't have kids quarreling (especially over girls) regardless of its socioeconomic status.
While this happened in the past few years... another thing that happened in the past few years is the school graduated 98% of it's students, sent 95% of them to college, and 7 were Gates Millennium Scholars. Plus each year the Valedictorian of West Catholic gets a free full ride to Upenn.
This scholarship is given by the university itself. Why is West Catholic able to do so well despite basically receiving no tuition? Because anyone who lives in the area from local businesses, to the nearby universities, to former graduates, realize what a positive impact this school is on the area. What a great thing they are doing and that's why they give SO MUCH money to them.
West Catholic is nothing like any of the other Catholic high schools. It's basically a charitable organization. Giving an education to children who would in no way be able to receive it through any other means.
Some people are saying they feel the worst for the teachers not so much for the kids. I for the most part agree. Catholic school teachers work far too hard for the small amount they are paid. As underpaid as public school teachers are, Catholic school teachers are paid even far less than them. Especially grade school teachers... it's a crime honestly. These are people who do what they do because they love it, they're certainly not in it for the money, and it's not fun to think about how now a lot of these great people are out of a job.
But I do really feel for the students of West Catholics. While the Children in the other Catholic schools will just transfer to another Catholic school, the students of West Catholic have no such option. They have no chance of being able afford a single other Catholic school. Their opportunity for a better life has been cruelly taken away from them. West Catholic had the money to open it's doors again next year just as it had been for the past century. Instead a group of people decided this wasn't going to happen and these children are now SOL. Imagine being the Junior at West Catholic with the best GPA. In line to attend UPenn with a full scholarship. Instead your school is closed and your resigned to instead go to what is surely a terrible neighborhood school and lose your chance to attend one of the finest schools in the nation for free. It really breaks my heart what they did to those kids.
West Catholic High School was an example of Catholicism at its finest. At its most caring and philanthropic. A school run not of tuition but of the good will of neighbors and of the gracious thanks of former students whose lives were improved considerably by a great institution.
As a former Catholic who still sometimes roots for them to turn it around if only because so many people I care about are Catholic, and as a former resident of West Philadelphia; the closing of West Catholic greatly saddens me.
I totally agree with u regarding the issue of "non catholics" and "blacks" at west Catholic. A school should be a reflection of the community in which it is located. A vibrant, healthy, diverse community should be welcomed regardless of race or religion. In fact, more minorities in west catholic, the better. It's a chance for this beleagured Catholic church to get some fresh "blood" so to speak in their ranks and get an outsiders perspective to a religion that is beginning to look really strange and downright disgusting in the media.
I was raised Catholic,...went through 12 years of Catholic education, but like so many I now consider myself just a Christian...not Catholic. Culturally, im Catholic. Religiously: im borderline agnostic/non-denominationa Xtian
Fact: A lot of people who go to West Catholic are not catholic. The question is why is that a problem?
I can't tell you how many times I heard students complain about saying a daily prayer before each class. I would hear something like the effect, "I ain't Catholic so I don't have to pray"
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
This past year West Catholic baptized 9 students into the catholic faith, that may not sound like a lot, but apparently that's more than the rest of the archdiocese high schools combined.
Where did you get that stat?
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
It's BS to just say this is because most black people aren't Catholic they should pull out or that black people won't attend a Catholic mass.
Who said anything about that????
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
The last I checked the Catholic Church isn't a business. It's a damn religion and helping the poor is supposed to be high on their list of objectives. Besides all the money they lost in lawsuits from their priests raping children aside the Catholic Church still has PLENTY of money.
Catholic Church is a business. Don't confuse that with "Catholic Faith"
The Catholic Church can no longer help the poor. They are too broke to do any charitable work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
This assistance is provided by the school itself. A school that due to a dedicated Alumni (not including the above poster apparently) have set up countless lasting scholarships and endowments for the school.
My father was laid off while I attended WC and the school didn't give him ONE dime for assitance
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
That's true, not the best moment in the history of the school however I think it's unfair to judge the merit of the schools based on this one event. After all what high school doesn't have kids quarreling (especially over girls) regardless of its socioeconomic status.
Youtube West Catholic and watch the wanna be rappers rap in the parking lot. Not to mention the fights that were NOT reported. [/quote]
Catholic Church is a business. Don't confuse that with "Catholic Faith"
The Catholic Church can no longer help the poor. They are too broke to do any charitable work.
[/quote]
Can the millions the Catholic Church had to pay out to lawyers and restitution payments to victims of child abuse by priests be a part of them being broke?
I can't tell you how many times I heard students complain about saying a daily prayer before each class. I would hear something like the effect, "I ain't Catholic so I don't have to pray"
So? Why should they say a catholic prayer if they aren't catholic? What does this have to do with anything? Is that really a big issue?
Just search the PDF for baptism. It was actually 10. That's 10 people who were not Catholic, came to West Catholic and then became Catholic. Incredible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Watusi
Who said anything about that????
You imply that the school having a predominately black population is part of the reason why it should be shut down. So I'd say that you said something about that. The church certainly hasn't said anything like that, but their actions speak louder than words. They continue to pull churches and schools out of predominately black areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Watusi
Catholic Church is a business. Don't confuse that with "Catholic Faith"
The Catholic Church can no longer help the poor. They are too broke to do any charitable work.
You know what's really funny. I was just in Italy in the summer of '10. I went to Rome, visited the Vatican. Let me tell you, if the Catholic Church is broke I'd REALLY like to be broke. They're FAR from broke. They just have their priorities WAAAAAAY out of wack.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Watusi
My father was laid off while I attended WC and the school didn't give him ONE dime for assitance
Sounds like you have some type of personal grudge against the school. Perhaps he didn't qualify. Perhaps you didn't qualify academically. Perhaps your father did not utilize the proper channels to obtain this assistance. I couldn't tell you. I'm not at all familiar to what your situation was so I can't really begin to speak to it. I can say this though. You graduated from the institution. In other words, your need for assistance must not have been so dire if your father was able to continue to foot the bill despite being laid off. It must have seemed dire to your family, but the students who receive this assistance have literally no means to attend the school otherwise, you obviously did or you wouldn't claim to be a graduate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Watusi
Youtube West Catholic and watch the wanna be rappers rap in the parking lot. Not to mention the fights that were NOT reported.
So because the students rap in the parking lot their school should be shut down? Is rapping suddenly a criminal activity?
Just because people are black and rapping, does not mean they are bad people. I know this may be hard for you to grasp.
You've said enough honestly. You've made your biases clear. Try to paint the picture of a school full of thugs and hoodlums, reference "unreported fights". The fact is that 98% of these "hoodlums" graduate and 95% of them go on to higher education, and the school has produced 7 Gates Millennium Scholars in just the past few years. Not to mention the fact that the school is regular contender in the state championships of just about every sport... not academic but it takes a lot of time and dedication to reach such a high level... not exactly traits i normally associate with "hoodlums."
Anyway thanks for "correcting me" it's been a joy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lititzman2003
Since when do high schools perform baptisms?
The high school isn't performing the baptism themselves. The school has an RCIA program though, a program set up to prepare adults to receive the sacraments in order to become a Catholic. The actual sacraments take place in a church at Easter Vigil Mass.
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. The fact is that 98% of these "hoodlums" graduate and 95% of them go on to higher education, and the school has produced 7 Gates Millennium Scholars in just the past few years. Not to mention the fact that the school is regular contender in the state championships of just about every sport... not academic but it takes a lot of time and dedication to reach such a high level... not exactly traits i normally associate with "hoodlums."
