St. Leo’s in Tacony
will re-open as charter school

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

After standing unused for two years, the old St. Leo School building in Tacony will reopen in September as a charter school.
Church spokesman Lou Baldwin confirmed that Planet Abacus, a school specializing in math, science and technology, plans to lease the building, at 6649 Tulip St. The school will house roughly 250 students in kindergarten to fifth grade.
"Something was going to happen, it was just a matter of what," said Baldwin, a member of the parish for 35 years. "School buildings are very hard to convert into anything other than school buildings."
St. Leo School closed in 2005 due to lack of enrollment. The building, which was constructed in several different stages, has remained mostly vacant aside from its intermittent use as meeting space. The parish continued to heat and maintain the building.
Last summer, rumors circulated that a military academy would move into the school. A school district employee had confirmed that the district was examining the site for such a use, but it never materialized.
At the time, sources said that interested parties were eyeing the site for a day-care center, apartment complex or senior housing.
"There were feelers from a number of different groups for the last few years," Baldwin said. "This is the one that worked out."
Planet Abacus, run by a Bala-Cynwyd-based company called Educational Services that operates other schools in the city, presented the plan for their school to the parish in May, Baldwin said. So far, most congregants have accepted it.
The church will retain use of the school parking lot and have limited access to the gym. Most groups will meet in the parish convent.
"I haven’t heard any great opposition in the parish about it," Baldwin said.
Some in the community, however, spouted their annoyance at the parish for not notifying them of the new school.
"I think from a civic standpoint, we want these discussions to be a little more transparent," said Louis M. Iatarola, vice president of the Tacony Civic Association.
Since no zoning issue was at hand, the school was not required to come before the civic association, but Iatarola still wishes more information had been supplied beforehand. He’s also concerned that the charter school will drain the student population at the other Catholic schools in Tacony.
"They are cornerstones of the community," Iatarola said of the schools. "I don’t know if a school with a 610 area code is going to have that attachment to the community."
But John Goulding, the principal at Abacus, said the school is attempting to attract the overflow population at Hamilton Disston School, which houses about 900 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The school will give preference to those students, but by law cannot deny students who meet the criteria for enrollment but live outside of Tacony.
At first, Abacus will operate as a K-5 school, but then add on a grade each year to accommodate sixth, seventh and eighth grades, Goulding said.
As of last Thursday, the school had enrolled two full kindergarten classes. Officials do not know how many classes each grade will have, but expect each class to have no more than 25 students.
Goulding told parents at an open house last week that while the school focuses on math, science and technology, other subjects like writing and reading are heavily worked.
The school has a zero tolerance policy for violent or disruptive behavior and will send home any child who breaks the rules. The school will not have security guards.
"An effective staff can control the school," Goulding said.
One Tacony parent whose son attends St. Josaphat’s did not expect Disston students to get first dibs at Planet Abacus. She’d like a cost-friendlier option for her son’s schooling but doesn’t want to send him to Disston.
"I live down the street from Disston," she said. "I see how (the students) act."
Planet Abacus will hold additional open houses on Aug. 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16, at 1 and 5:30 p.m.
School starts on Sept. 10. ••
For more information on Planet Abacus, call 610-617-9121.
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com