PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Supporters of the now-closed John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School are hoping to maintain the spirit of the school by launching the Center City Girls Academy (CCGA).
When the Archdiocese of Philadelphia shuttered Hallahan, at 19th and Wood streets, last June because of lagging enrollment, it left Center City without an all-girls high school.
“It leaves a big void because the nearest institution for all-girls is miles away from the city center,” said Alexis Bennett, a 2010 Hallahan graduate who has been hired as CCGA’s head of school. “That does create a void in women’s education, and so it is time for us to have a revitalized effort.”
Alumni and Hallahan supporters formed a nonprofit to raise funds with the aim of opening CCGA. The group hopes to open in the fall for the ninth and 10th grades. The school’s application is expected to be considered by the State Board of Private Academic Schools at its June meeting.
“We want to really open up our market to a lot of different students from a lot of diverse backgrounds who might have felt Hallahan really wasn’t a place for them,” Bennett said. “One of the things that I plan on doing as the head of school is to develop my teachers to make sure that women’s voices are at the center of the curriculum at all points.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in history, mathematics, you should be hearing the names of women throughout your curriculum. That is the difference, because there is no institution doing that right now that we know of.”
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While not a religious school, CCGA will have a holistic component.
“The approach is the entire student,” said CCGA board member Jessy Kyle. “Academics obviously are very, very important, but we want to educate, stimulate and encourage the entire student.”
“Right now, I’m looking to have so many religious institutions involved with our school,” Bennett added, “but also to have a mindfulness concentration that is not religiously affiliated.”
The nonprofit has commitments for $500,000, but organizers say they need double that amount.
“We are raising funds. It is very expensive to open up a school,” Kyle noted.
CCGA tuition is expected to be around $15,000 a year — about double what Hallahan’s was, but less than $40,000-plus for Friends Select, Bennett said.
About 100 students have expressed an interest in enrolling so far. A Center City location hasn’t yet been finalized.
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