While WIP was marking March 5 as Jalen Hurts Appreciation Day, the Rev. Joe Campellone noted that it was “Brian Patrick King Day” at Father Judge.
Campellone, who served as president of Judge from 2000 to 2015, helped organize an event that honored King, who has been president since 2016.
King, a 1997 Judge graduate, received an award from the Philadelphia Building Trades and resolutions/citations from state Sen. Tina Tartaglione and the offices of City Councilman Mike Driscoll and state Rep. Pat Gallagher.
“He truly deserves this,” Campellone said.
The event took place in the mezzanine of Judge’s new Career Pathways Academy, a $12 million, 20,000-square-foot facility that is home to the Faulkner Automotive Institute, Connelly Welding Lab and the Elliott-Lewis Mechanical Services Institute. The mezzanine is named for Tartaglione for her efforts to bring state money to the project.
“He is so forward thinking,” Tartaglione said of King.
Certified welding graduates are making good money working for unions or private companies, and future automotive technician and HVAC/mechanical trades grads are expected to earn top salaries when they complete the programs.
“You earn while you learn,” said Ryan Boyer, business manager for the Building Trades. “No college debt.”
King is also credited with expanding the Father Brisson Center for Academic Excellence, which works with students with learning challenges; establishing an esports after-school team that won a national championship; updating the physics lab and creating a 3D maker space lab; securing more than $2 million a year in state tax credit scholarships; and freezing tuition for four years after COVID.
For all that, King was a finalist for a Yass Foundation for Education prize, earning $200,000 for the school.
“Thank you for continuing the mission of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales,” said the Rev. Jack Kolodziej, provincial of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province, who offered a prayer on Ash Wednesday.
King, a Mayfair native, graduate of St. Matthew Elementary School and married father of three, was Judge’s director of advancement and operations for five-plus years before becoming president.
In all, Judge draws from 58 ZIP codes in Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware counties, along with a portion of South Jersey.
“We’ve been able to make this a destination school,” King said.
Judge has 227 eighth-graders registered to enroll as freshmen next school year, and King is looking forward to implementing a program in September that will enable students to earn an associate’s degree in business from Holy Family University.
“We’re in growth mode. We’re in investment mode,” King said. “Things are looking up.” ••
