BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BELLEVUE -- A group of community, business and political leaders are working with the Diocese of Covington to improve inner city Catholic schools. These schools are part of the Alliance for Catholic Urban Education, formed by the principals of each school to pool resources and seek additional funding.
Those principals have since formed an advisory board, made up of concerned members of their school community.
"The very fact that they are business and community leaders with a wide variety of contacts will be helpful to the schools in promoting their programs and raising tuition assistance," said Lawrence Bowman, director of Catholic education for the diocese. "It will help to raise awareness that the schools are offering a quality education not just for Catholic kids but for anybody."
To learn about the seven elementaries and three high schools in Bellevue, Covington, Dayton and Newport that are part of the urban alliance, the board of directors toured three of those schools this week.
"There are a lot of things I'm in the dark about, too," said board member and Bellevue Mayor Tom Wiethorn.
"As I try to market the schools, I'm also learning a lot about them."
The group met staff and parent volunteers at Holy Spirit School in Newport and Holy Family and St. Augustine schools in Covington. Jim Parsons, Newport city manager, said he was impressed with the innovative ways teachers and volunteers are working in the schools.
"About 50 percent of the students in some of the schools are non-Catholic," Mr. Parsons said.
"The schools are becoming an important alternative to public education for people who are interested in a little different curriculum with more stress on morality and religion."
Alliance members hope that as the board learns more about the facilities available and the need for additional funding, positive change can happen.
"One of our goals is to get the whole community aware of what's there and what isn't," Mr. Wiethorn said.
