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May 25, 2008

School builds on strengths Once nearly closed, St. John Berchmans finds ways to attract families in growing community

By Michelle Martin

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Three years ago in February, Allan Syc, a corporate attorney from the northern suburbs, read in the Chicago Tribune that St. John Berchmans School — from which he had graduated in 1961 — was to close.

In her home across the street from the school, Angie Garza, heard the same news.

The school was one of 23 whose closures were announced the same day. Its enrollment, at 240 students, was higher than many of the soon-to-close schools, but it bore a debt of $300,000 to the archdiocese.

And while neither Syc nor Garza had any formal relationship with the school at that time, both came out for a community meeting on whether — and how — the school could be saved.

“It’s a Christian, Catholic school,” said Syc. “The neighborhood is in need of a Catholic school. It was providing quality education to the kids.”

The combined efforts of school and parish staff, parents, alumni and interested community members worked, coming up with $150,000 to pay towards the debt and winning a reprieve. The Save Our School campaign included everything from lunchroom bake sales (“The kids would be so excited when they raised $7,” said administrative assistant Judy Ciukowski) to the “Glimmer of Hope” auction.

Now Garza’s son, Gabriel, is a 4-year-old preschooler at St. John Berchmans. Syc is the secretary of the school’s board of specified jurisdiction — a group similar to a school advisory board, but with somewhat more authority.

The school — whose enrollment plummeted to 157 the year after the closing announcement — is still working to find pupils, with 187 this year.

There are more students at the lower grades, especially in the preschool, and the school is growing.

Meanwhile, the school has added curriculum, including Spanish and art classes, and equipment, including a new playground set, computer lab and high-tech boards that allow teachers and students to write on them, and have their work go directly into the classroom computer.

Resources have come from the Big Shoulders Fund, which connected the school with a “patron family” who pledged $100,000 a year for three years. Big Shoulders also provides scholarships for some students, capital grants and technical assistance.

Father Wayne Watts, who became pastor of St. John Berchmans Parish in 2006, leverages donations, by, for example, seeking out matching grants from donors’ employers. He also hired a director of development, Melissa Skinner-Liberman.

Elsa Rivera’s daughter, Destiny, has been one of the beneficiaries of the school’s efforts. Destiny, now a fourth-grader, moved to St. John’s two years ago from another Catholic school because it had more resources, her mother said. With a gym and an outdoor play area for the primary grades, Destiny was able to be more active during the school day, and she takes advantage of the after-school offerings, which next year will include optional Mandarin and French classes.

Rivera said she was concerned about the school’s future after the planned closing and the drop in enrollment, but when Dominican Sister Joyce Montgomery, then the principal, assured her that the school was working to remain strong, she decided to take a chance, and for her daughter’s sake, she’s glad she did.

Next year, Rivera’s 3-year-old will start at the school, she said.

Montgomery, a Springfield Dominican, now serves as head of the early childhood center. She remembers taking the phone call from the Office for Catholic Schools saying St. John Berchmans would be closed — news that came as a surprise to her.

“I told him people would not like it,” she said.

Some families, “once they heard that, they started enrolling their kids in schools they thought would stay open,” she said. “They were looking for security. The ones that stayed, they believe in the purpose and the mission of this school here.”

The school has benefited from an influx of young, more affluent families in the Logan Square neighborhood. Many walk their children to school, and many come to church on Sunday, Watts said. He hired the current principal, Margaret Roketenetz, by asking her to take the job after church on Pentecost two years ago.

The school faces more competition, especially from charter schools.

St. John Berchmans and other Catholic schools can compete by offering technology and other other modern opportunities, Montgomery countered, but most importantly, by staying close to their roots.

“I think our parents want Catholic faith and tradition,” she said. “And they are willing to invest in it.”

For more information, visit www.stjohnberchmans.org.