From today’s WSJ, a Catholic school getting the job done:

High graduation rates are a constant at most Catholic schools, but St. Joseph’s is unique even within the parochial system: It is the only area Catholic school that has an "open enrollment policy," accepting "any child regardless of faith, academic ability or emotional stability." This is not, as some advocates of the government-run public system would have you believe, a school that is skimming the cream of the crop.

New York’s Catholic schools have always been a beacon of hope for the poor, but it’s been a long time since they were staffed by nuns, who taught as part of their religious vocation. Today the schools must rely on lay teachers who understandably expect both salaries and benefits. About 19% of students receive financial aid, and the full tuition of $2,750 per student still falls short of the $3,868 annual cost to give one child a basic education. Add to this any necessary capital improvements, as well as remedial assistance, art, music, physical education and the after-school enrichment programs, and the bills begin to mount.

So how is it that St. Joseph’s is flourishing and even expanding? The answer, in a large part, lies with the generosity of private donors who have been tapped through an "adopt a school" program of the archdiocese. "Adoption" here means that individuals commit to a school they begin to see as their own. Each adopted school also has its own advisory board, whose members become personally involved with the students, visiting classes and sponsoring and chaperoning excursions.

Thirty-six New York archdiocese elementary schools have been adopted, and the director of the Patron’s Program says that the bulk of the financial support comes from senior-level Wall Street executives. High-net-worth individuals not only give generously but also open their Rolodexes and talk to friends who can help the school with either professional time or money. One school was adopted by 37 floor traders from Bear Stearns who pooled their charitable giving.

And thanks to one guy:

Philanthropist and retired hedge-fund manager Robert W. Wilson said he is giving $22.5 million to the Archdiocese of New York to fund a scholarship program for needy inner-city students attending Roman Catholic schools.

Wilson, 80, said in a phone interview today that although he is an atheist, he has no problem donating money to a fund linked to Catholic schools.

“Let’s face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization,” Wilson said. “Shunning religious organizations would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I’m helping to pay tuition. The money isn’t going directly to the schools.”

Wilson’s donation is the largest the archdiocese has ever received. The money will be used to fund the Cardinal’s Scholarship Program, which was started in 2005 to give disadvantaged students attending the archdiocese’s inner-city schools partial or full tuition grants, Jacqueline LoFaro, the archdiocese’s associate superintendent of schools, said in a phone interview today.

“It was a chance for a very modest amount of money to get kids out of a lousy school system and into a good school system,” Wilson said.

An anonymous donor has given an additional $4.5 million to the archdiocese after learning that Wilson’s gift would be announced today, church officials said.