When the Philadelphia Board of Education voted late last month to shutter 17 public schools due to declining enrollment, Michael Marrone knew the hardship it would create for families in Kensington, one of the city neighborhoods expected to experience a large share of the closures.
Marrone leads Liguori Academy, a private, secular high school and credit-recovery program in Kensington. “This area is a choice desert,” said Marrone, noting the paucity of nearby schooling options.
Now, Marrone is planning to expand enrollment at Liguori Academy to welcome some of the estimated 4,000 students displaced by the upcoming public school closures, aided in part by a new citywide scholarship initiative aimed at helping affected families.
Earlier this week, the Yass Prize, founded in 2021 by Philadelphia philanthropists Jeff and Janine Yass, announced the Opportunity Knocks Scholarship. It will provide $8,000 in annual funding for 500 students displaced from the city’s public schools to attend one of 16 Philadelphia private schools. Each participating school has been recognized by the Yass Prize as exemplifying sustainable, transformational, outstanding and permissionless (S.T.O.P.) principles in education.
Liguori Academy, a 2024 Yass Prize semi-finalist, is one of these schools. “We’re really in a tough area, which is why school choice is so significant, because if you want to create equity—an equal playing ground—you have to provide opportunities,” said Marrone. “That’s what Yass is doing with this scholarship.”
Liguori Academy opened in 2016 with just 26 students and three faculty members in a converted factory building near one of Philadelphia’s most troubled intersections. “Before the word ‘microschool,’ we defined it,” recalled Marrone.
Today, the school serves roughly 300 low-income students, two-thirds of whom are Black and Hispanic, from across Philadelphia. In addition to the private high school, where students attend with the help of Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit scholarship program and other philanthropic support, Liguori Academy also operates Fortis, a credit-recovery partnership program with the Philadelphia Public Schools for students who need help catching up academically to earn their high school diploma.
“We’re not a one-size-fits-all,” said Marrone, who grew up in South Philadelphia and worked as a private school educator and Catholic priest before leaving the priesthood to launch the school. “I don’t believe in one size.”
Marrone says the school appeals to families and students because it combines solid academics with career immersion and personalized support. All students graduate with at least three industry-recognized certifications, in areas such as healthcare, construction, cybersecurity and digital arts, while also participating in internships and dual-enrollment college coursework. Roughly half of the school’s graduates go directly into the workforce or a technical training program, while the other half pursue higher education, including at places like Villanova and Temple University.
Caroline Allen, founding director of the Yass Prize and chief program officer at the Center for Education Reform which administers the prize, said the Opportunity Knocks Scholarship is intended to help families find a soft landing place amidst the educational turmoil of school closures.
“When schools close, children and families should not be the ones left carrying the burden,” said Allen, a former public school teacher. “This scholarship exists because every student deserves continuity, opportunity and a learning environment that believes in their potential and supports their success.”
Allen says the Philadelphia schools participating in the Opportunity Knocks Scholarship reflect the broader mission of the Yass Prize, which has issued more than $60 million in grant awards to over 225 schools and educational organizations nationwide during the past five years.
For Marrone, the scholarship initiative is also an opportunity to demonstrate how innovative private schools can complement—not compete with—the broader public education system. “I want our school to be seen as a partner in the education landscape of Philadelphia,” he said.
This is especially true for students who may be lost in large schools or unable to thrive in a conventional classroom. “A lot of our students were students who were sitting in the back of the classroom and no one noticed. They didn’t fit the mold,” said Marrone.
“We notice them here,” he added.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com