UPPER DARBY — Thursday, Feb. 24, will be cause for celebration at Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School. The date marks exactly ten years since Archbishop Charles Chaput announced in 2012 that the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Catholic high school could remain open, following a serious threat of closure.
On Jan. 6, 2012, in accordance with the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission, Chaput announced that Bonner and Prendie would close at the end of that school year, along with West Catholic, Conwell-Eagan, and St. Hubert’s archdiocesan high schools. Appointed by Cardinal Justin Rigali in 2010, the 16-member Blue Ribbon Commission engaged in an extensive 18-month study of the Philadelphia region’s Catholic schools.
Soon after the announcement, the administration, led by the school’s then-president Rev. James Olson, began the appeal process to reverse the decision. Bonner/Prendie students, families, alumni and community members raised over $1 million in just 13 days in an attempt to save the school. The save-our-school fund quickly grew to over $5 million. The appeal, coupled with the overwhelming outpouring of support, laid out the plans for the future of a thriving Bonner and Prendie. Days before the appeal decisions were to be made, a group of interested business people came forward with a plan to save all of the high schools slated to close. This group later became known as the Faith in the Future Foundation.
On Feb. 24, 2012, Chaput announced that all four high schools would remain open.
Patrick Walsh, a 2012 graduate of Bonner & Prendie, remembers the day of the joyous announcement well. Currently the school’s Director of Enrollment Management, Walsh was a high school senior that year. He was asked to put on the school’s mascot suit to be on stage when the students and faculty received the upbeat news.
“I’ll never forget that day,” Walsh said. “Assistant Principal Jim Strandberg, pulled me aside, grabbed my shoulders, and told me “Go get the Friar suit. So I knew what was about to happen. I think about that day every time I walk into work. To see our current students thrive in this building and call it their second home, it shows everything we fought for ten years ago was worth it. Ten years later, we are still serving the local community and providing students a place to grow intellectually and spiritually.”
Although Bonner/Prendie became co-institutional in 2006, sharing a common administration, it wasn’t until 2012, following the announcement, that the two schools became co-educational, meaning, with the exception of gym, religion, and health classes, male and female students would be in classrooms learning together. The Prendie students moved over to the Bonner building and unified the school altogether under one roof.
Even though the school is now co-educational, many of the same-sex traditions of the separate schools are still honored, including the Ring Mass, Baccalaureate Mass, and student retreats. The schools also kept both mascots, the Prendie Panda and the Bonner Friar.
In an exclusive sit-down interview last week, a mixture of current Bonner & Prendie students, as well as the school’s current president, Dr. John Cooke, took a look back over the past ten years and talked about the school’s legacy and prosperity and the ways that the high school is more vibrant than ever as it readies for a prosperous future. Cooke, who succeeded Olson’s presidency in 2015, said that following the threat of closure ten years ago, the school has emerged stronger, with a model that includes a new strategy of governance, educational leadership and outreach. The school has moved way past survival mode, he said, and has turned its eyes toward the future, now equipped to serve generations to come.
“Each year since 2012, we have met our growing enrollment and fundraising goals,” commented Cooke. “Last year, we enrolled the largest incoming freshmen class throughout the entire archdiocese. Our budget has been in the black every fiscal year since 2012. We have so much good stuff going on here!”
Tara George Basile, Class of ’86, is the Director of Advancement. Basile says alumni involvement is at an all-time high at the school. The school’s 17-member board of directors, which oversees everything from the annual budget and fundraising and development efforts to school policies and long-range strategic development, is made up of bright and successful alumni who work in conjunction with the Office of Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the Faith in the Future Foundation, for the benefit of Bonner & Prendie.
“Our alumni association numbers 45,000 plus,” Basile said. “Our alums have accepted and embraced the changes at the school and have broken every fundraising goal that we set, every single year. Our alumni are extremely proud of Dr. Cooke and everything that has been happening here.”
When Cooke took the reins of the school in 2015, it had an enrollment of 850 students. Enrollment has held steady, with 846 currently attending for the 2021-22 school year. Cooke is like a proud father talking about the students who attend and graduated from the school.
“In the past ten years, we have graduated over 2,000 students, who have earned millions and millions in college scholarships,” Cooke said. “Thanks to our alumni and fundraising, we have put millions back into the building including a new Anthony F. Frederico, Class of 1969 Auditorium, renovations on the Dominic J. Frederico gymnasium, computer labs, our chapel, and more. We also hosted our first home football game on campus, in 2017, even though we had a field for many years to do so. The field was previously not zoned properly. Our students are excelling academically and in every other way. Ninety-nine percent of (our) graduates head off to a four-year college. I could go on and on, listing many more accomplishments.”
According to the school’s website, “Bonner-Prendie is guided by time-honored traditions and a dedication to the service of others. The school is committed to providing a preeminent, comprehensive education within an environment of acceptance, respect, and love. It strives to enrich the lives of its students with the values and skills necessary to navigate the ever-changing world.”
The ever-changing world has happened right on the Bonner-Prendie campus, where students have witnessed many changes over the last decade.
One of the major changes that occurred to the physical buildings on campus was the sale of the Archbishop Prendergast building. Once Prendie students moved over to the Bonner building, their former school remained empty. In July 2021, the Philadelphia archdiocese sold the unoccupied Prendie building to Delaware County Community College. The archdiocese acquired the land from the famous Drexel family in 1917. The Archbishop Prendergast building was originally constructed as an orphanage, opening in 1920. It then became a high school in 1953 and, as demand grew, the second, adjacent high school building opened in 1957. Since the sale to DCCC, the building is currently undergoing renovations. Cooke said the college is aiming to open on the combined 30-acre property in another year or two.
“Having the college right next door to us will greatly enhance our student opportunities,” said Cooke. “Delaware County Community College will ultimately serve the educational needs of not just our students at Bonner/Prendie with dual enrollment opportunities, but the entire Upper Darby Community for years to come.”
When the agreement of sale was signed in 2019, both Cooke and Dr. L. Joy Gates Black, president of DCCC, said they were excited about the potential synergies that can be created between the two educational institutions to provide students with the best in educational instruction. DCCC already partners with Bonner & Prendie, as well as other high schools in the area, to provide dual enrollment, a program which allows students to earn college credits at a discounted rate while still in high school.
Another source of excitement and pride at the school in the last decade has been the journey toward sainthood for the school’s beloved Father Bill Atkinson. The late Augustinian priest taught at Monsignor Bonner High School for 30 years, retiring in 2004. While at the school, Atkinson served as a teacher, assistant school chaplain, moderator of the football team and director of a detention program affectionately known as “JUG,” or “Justice under God.”
“We have supported the opening of the cause for sainthood for our very own Father Bill Atkinson,” Cooke stated, referring to the first major milestone in an inquiry for sainthood that began back in September 2015, when Chaput formally opened the canonization cause for Atkinson, the first quadriplegic ever to be ordained a Catholic priest. For six years, the Philadelphia archdiocese examined historical documents, heard witness testimonies and conducted related investigations, all to gather morally certain proof of Atkinson’s life of heroic virtue. In October, 2021, in a special ceremony at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, archdiocesan officials summarized those results, and Archbishop Nelson Pérez decreed that the documentation be authenticated, sealed and delivered to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The Bonner community and others now wait confidently for word from Rome, when the canonization process is complete.
“Father Atkinson will be the second saint who lived on this property,” Cooke said enthusiastically. “St. Katherine Drexel lived here too. There’s such a rich history here on this campus.”
Saving the school has meant a great deal, not only to its alumni, the current students, but to all the future generations to come.
“Legacy is really important here,” Cooke stated.
Maeve Sullivan, 18, of Drexel Hill, a senior, was 8-years-old when the high school was facing closure in 2012. She went with her mother and dozens of others on buses to the Basilica to pray and plea with the archdiocese to keep the school open. Her sister Molly, who since graduated in 2015, was a freshman at the school then. Maeve remembers the emotions felt after the closure announcement, the camaraderie and passion that went into the fight to save the school, and the elation and feelings of exhilaration that followed the announcement that the school would be saved. Maeve was among those on the stage at the high school, who stood beside Olson, when the faculty and students received the official word that the school would survive. She remembers looking out on the sea of students and faculty, cheering, hugging, stomping and screaming, as they processed the information that their school would go on. She was also there with her family the following week at a prayer service, thanking God for the school’s promising future.
As the youngest of nine children, Maeve continues the school’s legacy, following in the footsteps of her mother, four sisters, aunts, and cousins. Soon to become an official Class of ’22 alumna, Maeve, who excelled in high school as a member and treasurer of the National Honor Society, captain of the LaCrosse team and Field Hockey, and participant in School Ministry, says she was thrilled to follow in the footsteps of family members and attend the same school.
“I used to come here the entire time I was growing up because my sisters were students,” Maeve said. “I grew up on campus. I can’t even describe how it has felt to know that I would be able to come here. Everyone here is like a family. Bonner/Prendie is important, not just to me but to everyone who comes through these doors. I can’t even bring it to words to say what this school means to me.”
Senior Sarah Callahan of Aldan echoed her classmate’s sentiments. She has been active during her high school years, playing lacrosse and volleyball. Sarah’s father Michael Callahan, Bonner Class of 1981, and her mother Donna Morris Callahan, Prendie Class of 1982, met on campus. Sarah is not only following her parents’ footsteps in high school, but also her three siblings who attended the school before her. When she was a young girl and her sister Megan, Class of 2012, was a student, Sarah played Molly in the Bonner/Prendie school production of “Annie.”
“Being able to experience what my parents and siblings experienced has always made me feel connected here,” Sarah, the youngest in her family, said. “I even had a lot of the same teachers. I thought I would have to break our tradition and go somewhere else. Instead, I am so happy that I was able to attend high school here. I really couldn’t imagine going anywhere else!”
Junior Christopher DiRita of Drexel Hill also attended like his grandfather, Class of ’57, his father, Class of ’88, has uncle, Class of ’90 and his brother, Class of 2021. Atkinson taught his father when he was at Bonner. He also taught Sarah’s father.
“When I was deciding where to go, I visited Cardinal O’Hara, but I knew from the beginning that I wanted to come to Bonner & Prendie,” Christopher said. “I admired the lifetime friendships that my dad has with his Bonner classmates and I like that you can have relationships with the faculty. My brother was on the golf team and his coach, Mr. Jack Glacken, encouraged me to come get on the team.”
Christopher took the coach’s advice and has played golf ever since arriving at on campus. This school year, the golf team won the 2021 PCL Golf All-Catholic Team honors and the school proudly displays the award.
Just like Christopher followed his brothers to the school, the president of this year’s student council, Scott Bernhard-Kyle of Secane, followed his two older sisters there. Scott, who is a firefighter with the Upper Darby/Primos-Secane Fire Co., was recently named “Delaware County Junior Firefighter of the Year.” He plans to join the United States Army after graduating in June. He has not only excelled academically at the school, but as football captain, fullbacker and linebacker, he led his team to their first city championship in sixty years. In September, the team brought home the Upper Darby John T. Clark Football Bowl trophy and in November, the team won the District 12 championship. According to Cooke, the 2022 football team was the most winning team in Bonner’s history, ending the season at 30-4.
“I really liked how diverse this school is,” Scott remarked, when asked some of the reasons he had an overall good experience there. “It allowed me to meet a lot of different kinds of people.”
Bonner-Prendergast Catholic High School is a diverse community of learners rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Cooke said the community’s demographics have changed so the student body is more diverse than ever before. The community has embraced the diversity because it’s more reflective of the real world and it presents an opportunity for learning from one another.
Cooke explained that although legacy is strong at the high school, and a high percentage of the teachers and administration are alumni, many of the school’s students are first generation attendees.
Senior Donnye Cuffie, of Southwest Philadelphia and her sister, a 2018 graduate, were the first in their family to attend the school. Now her younger brother Wesley Cuffie is a sophomore there. Donnye was running track at BVM Parish in Darby when her coach encouraged her to apply. The senior says that she is happy that she listened to the coach. Donney reported that she and her fellow runners on the Bonner & Prendie team won the PCL Cross Country Championship last week.
“I made so many good memories here,” Donnye exclaimed. “My best memory is of my three-day senior retreat at Malvern Retreat House.”
Philipe Jean-Louis, of Upper Darby, is the first in his family to attend the school. His mother attended West Catholic.
“People were always telling me I should go here, Philipe said, smiling. “But my eight- grade teacher at St. Laurence School encouraged me the most and it was the best move I ever made!”
Philipe, who was named Upper Darby Summer Stager of the year in 2021, performed a lead role in the fall show, “Anastasia,” and will play the role of Jesus in the spring musical, “Godspell,” in April. He is president of the school Choir and is a member of the Archdiocese’s All-Catholic Choir. The school will host the All-Catholic Choir, March 4-6. Philipe is also one of the Upper Darby Performing Arts’ Shooting Stars. The Shooting Stars practiced at Bonner this past year. Cooke said Bonner & Prendie is partnering with Upper Darby Summer Stage again, to bring the Theatre Bug Program for young children to the school this coming summer.
“The people I’ve met here, and the bonds I’ve formed, have been so amazing,” Philipe stated. “I’ve made memories at fundraisers, dances, performing community service and doing service projects and helping people in so many ways. Now my little sister Isabelle is coming here next year.”
Basile said although the school awards $3 million in tuition assistance scholarships, there’s a documented need of $6 million, so more students can get the opportunity to attend. She said in 2021, the student body was 803 students. Out of those, 747 applied for tuition assistance and 246 of these students received aid. There is also possibility for tuition assistance through the Foundation For Catholic Education EITC program.
Cooke said most students work jobs after school and in summer. Tuition for the 2022-23 school year is $9,999.
“We’ve been very intentional about keeping the tuition under $10,000,” Cooke said. “Our tuition includes all fees so there are no more hidden costs. We saw a huge uptick in student engagement by doing this. More kids joined sports and clubs once the fees were removed and sports and all activities were equally available to all students.”
Fundraising comes in many forms, Cooke and Basile said. Alumni events and class reunions give class gifts. The Class of 1971 recently donated $58,000 and the Class of 1969 gave $169,000. An alumnus just recently sold a business and donated $516,000 to the school.
“Our advancement program is like a traditional university model,” Basile explained. “We employ an annual mail solicitation and look for support from reunion committees, alumni get-togethers, and just alums in general.”
On June 16, the school will hold its Annual Gala and Auction, with raffles. Basile said the annual event has always been a traditional fundraiser for the school. This year, alumni contemplated having the event at Bonner/Prendie so attendees can see all of the improvements and amenities at the school and get a first-hand look at all the positive things happening there.
“We want the Bonner-Prendie community to be invested here,”Cooke said. “We want everyone to know that we’re still here, doing well and looking at a future that’s brighter than it ever looked before.”
For additional information about Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School, visit http://www.bonnerprendie.com.
