By Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
It’s a grant the pontiff would appreciate: A South Philadelphia Catholic school that serves predominantly poor immigrant students is getting $1.4 million to improve and expand.
The gift to Independence Mission Schools – the network that runs St. Thomas Aquinas and 14 other former Archdiocese of Philadelphia parish schools in low-income neighborhoods – comes from the Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP). It is the well-funded nonprofit’s largest grant to a Catholic school to date.
To St. Thomas Aquinas, at 18th and Morris Streets in Point Breeze, the money will make all the difference, said Vince Mazzio, principal of the school, which has students in prekindergarten through grade 8.