‘Cardinal’s Circle’ hosting Mass for generous supporters
January 25, 2011
For decades, the Archdiocese's 13 Inner City Catholic Schools have provided a quality education to low-income and minority students. The first Inner City Catholic School, Our Lady of Guadalupe, began serving students in 1912.
Committed to keeping Catholic education alive in the Archdiocese's urban areas, 187 individuals and parishes have pledged $1.13 million to "The Cardinal's Circle for Excellence": a fund that will benefit Inner City Schools by bridging the financial gap between the income from tuition and what it costs to educate a child in an Inner City parochial school.
The cost to educate a child in the Inner City Catholic Schools is about $5,800. The average tuition rate is $3,800.
"These 13 schools have given countless children an exemplary education and a strong foundation in Gospel values," said Archbishop Emeritus Joseph A. Fiorenza, who is coordinating "The Cardinal's Circle" with Archdiocesan Superintendent of Schools Sister Kevina Keating, CCVI and Tom Macrini.
"The generosity of The Cardinal's Circle donors will help ensure a standard of excellence in our Inner City Schools' curriculum, staff and school faculties and make Catholic education affordable to low-income families for generations to come," Archbishop Fiorenza said.
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will celebrate a Feb. 4 Mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart for The Cardinal's Circle supporters. The liturgy is followed by a formal dinner featuring guest speaker Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, Executive Director of the Catholic Center for Education at Boston College.
"We want this to be a very special occasion for our wonderful friends and donors, members of The Cardinal's Circle, to whom we are most grateful," Sister Keating said. "Therefore, I am very pleased that a nationally renowned leader in urban schools and good colleague, Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, accepted the invitation to be our dinner speaker."
"Over the last 20 years, the economic landscape for education has drastically changed," Weitzel-O'Neill told the Herald in an e-mail. "More is required to prepare our students for the 21st century, and yet fewer dollars are available."
Catholic education costs have also escalated because fewer religious men and women are available to serve in Catholic schools and as a result, parochial schools have needed to increase their budgets to provide for the outstanding laity who make up the majority of staffs in the American Catholic school system, Weitzel-O'Neill said.
Her Feb. 4 speech at The Cardinal's Circle dinner will stress the importance of serving all families who seek a Catholic education and why Catholic schools make a critical difference in American communities.
According to the National Catholic Education Association, 80 percent of Catholic High School graduates attend four-year colleges and another 17 percent attend two-year colleges or technical schools.
The Archdiocese educates about 2,000 students through its 13 Inner City Schools in Houston, Pasadena and Galena Park. About 40 percent of Inner City students receive tuition assistance from the Archdiocese, ranging from partial assistance to full scholarships. In addition to tuition assistance, every year the Archdiocese must also provide about $1.3 million in subsidies to its Inner City Schools to help cover the rising costs of educating students.
"Catholic schools in the Inner City have been and continue to be the best hope for the children of these neighborhoods," said Weitzel-O'Neill, who was previously Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. and the former Vice President for Academic Affairs at Trinity Washington University. "Our mission as a Catholic Church is to provide an academically excellent Catholic education to all who seek [it]."
In addition to The Cardinal's Circle, the Archdiocese is also seeking $5 million from foundations and corporations to upgrade school facilities and educational equipment. Patrick Oxford, the former chair of the Greater Houston Partnership, is assisting Archbishop Fiorenza with this effort.
"Because of these supporters, we are able to continue the teaching mission of the Catholic Church in our urban schools," Sister Keating said. "Our Catholic education system has been a pioneer in not only developing young people's intellectual talents, but instilling in them a sense of service and a call to be responsible citizens. We will need continued financial support to continue this essential mission of the Church in our 13 Inner City Schools."
— Jonah Dycus contributed to this report