South Philly Review

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An open letter to parents:

Like you, we are distressed by the closing of our beloved Catholic schools. It is a sad day, indeed, when any school is closed. We must put our frustration aside, however, and work together to find the best possible solution for our children and the community.

Holy Spirit School has been saved from closure because Pastor John Calabro has made an excellent case for remaining open, current students are being retained, there has already been a small influx of new students for the fall and there has been a substantial endowment fund set up to provide additional financial assistance to the school. Holy Spirit is now stronger than ever and poised to thrive well into the future. It can provide the stability you need at this troubling time.

We reach out to other communities close to us who have not been as fortunate and who now must deal with their beloved schools closing. Holy Spirit will welcome your children in a safe, quiet, convenient environment, similar to your own school. Change and transition are frightening to young children, but Holy Spirit plans to make this change a positive experience for your children and for you.

With the additional enrollment, even more improvements can be made to the classrooms, science and computer labs and library. Holy Spirit is convenient to parks and green space for healthy outdoor activity. Holy Spirit will be a clean, comfortable place for our children to learn and thrive.

Few things are as important as providing safe, stable, quality schools for our children. The next school year starts in just four months, so now is the time to act. We know and trust Catholic education. Many of us have benefitted from it. We must work together to save it.

Talk to friends, family and neighbors about Holy Spirit as an alternative for the 2010-11 school year. The Archdiocese needs to know that our combined parish communities want Catholic education to remain strong in our neighborhood for years to come.

Packer Park Civic Association

No soup for you

To the Editor:

If it were not for all the pollution from cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, trash, garbage, animal fecal matter and throw up on the streets, you might be able to smell food cooking (“South Philly soup,” May 6). The above ingredients create South Philly soup, not trees.

I was born and raised in South Philly, so I do notice the difference from when I was young and now. Streets do not get cleaned by the city, sidewalks are not swept by the residents and people eating as they walk throw trash on the ground including food they do not want.

I lived in North Carolina and the Poconos where there are thousands of trees and there is no soup in these areas, just beautiful trees giving shade and flowers.

If you do not have an appetite for South Philly soup, have the streets and sidewalks cleaned up and keep them that way. I’m sure you won’t have anymore soup.

George Munce
South Philadelphia

Regal advice

To the Editor: