Memphis Sees Catholic School Renaissance

By Mary Ann Zehr

Memphis, Tenn.

It's a miracle.

That's how Mary C. McDonald, the superintendent of Roman Catholic schools here, describes the reopening of seven Catholic elementary schools over the past four years in some of this city's poorest neighborhoods. After all, many Catholic dioceses elsewhere are closing such schools because of low enrollment and weak financial support.

The truth is, though, that Ms. McDonald and her colleagues in the Diocese of Memphis helped make the miracle happen by taking the unusual step of looking...