Another snow day at the Philadelphia public schools! The School District has announced that all public schools will be closed on Friday, March 6 due to the inclement weather. All pre-kindergarten and after school programs will also be closed. Administrative offices will be open two hours late.

This will be the second day in a row when public schools are closed as a result of heavy snowfall in the region.

All public schools will open two hours late on Monday, March 2, due to icy road conditions. There is also a two-hour delay opening for all prekindergarten programs and all administrative offices.

Please go to www.philasd.org for updates. Updated information will also be posted on the District’s Information Hotline at 215-400-INFO (4636).

Click on the images below to view breakfast and lunch menus to be served in Philadelphia public schools in March, 2015. If your school uses a Satellite menu, click here.

K-8 Breakfast and Lunch Menu, March 2015

9-12 Breakfast and Lunch Menu, March 2015

The year’s first kindergarten open houses will be held next Wednesday, March 4. Here’s a list of West Philly schools located in the zip codes 19104, 19139, and 19143 and their open house hours. The list has been compiled by the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools. This is a great chance for parents and guardians to visit kindergarten classrooms and meet teachers. The second round of kindergarten open houses will take place in May.

A. D. Harrington School
5300-34 Baltimore Ave
19143
(215) 471-2914
Open House: March 4, 9:09-9:45 a.m. in the Annex building

Alain Locke School
4550 Haverford Ave.
19139
(215) 823-8202
Open House: March 4, 9:30 a.m.

B. B. Comegys School
5100 Greenway Ave.
19143
(215) 727-2162
Open House: March 4, 10:00-10:45 a.m.

Henry C. Lea School
4700 Locust St.
19139
(215) 471-2915
Open House: March 4, 9:00-10:30 a.m.

Martha Washington Academics
766 N. 44th St.
19104
(215) 823-8203
Open House: 3/4, 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Morton McMichael School
3543 Fairmount Ave.
19104
(215) 823-8272
Open House: March 4, 10:30 a.m.

Penn Alexander School
4209 Spruce St.
19104
(215) 823-5465
Open House: March 4, 9:30 a.m.

Samuel Powel School
301 N. 36th St.
19104
(215) 823-8201
Open House: March 4, 9:00 a.m.

Samuel B. Huey School
5200 Pine St.
19143
(215) 471-2901
Open House: March 4, 10:00 a.m.

Independence Charter School West was one of five new charter schools approved last night amid a raucous School Reform Commission meeting.

Under its newly granted charter, the school will open in 2016 to K-4 students and will be located in the 19142 zip code in Southwest Philly. The school “will recruit 50 percent of its students from within zip codes 19143 [which includes Cedar Park and Kingsessing] and 19139 [including Walnut Hill], and 50 percent from other parts of the city,” according to its application filed with the district. Another revision to the application caps the total number of students at 300 in the school’s first year.

Independence, like the other charter operators approved on Wednesday, already runs at least one school in the city. The others approved include schools proposed by Mastery, KIPP, Freire and MaST.  Continue Reading

The School Reform Commission is set to make decisions on 39 charter school applications during a special meeting scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

This is the final step in an application process that included public testimony and comment. This is the first time in seven years that the School District of Philadelphia has considered adding charter schools to go along with the 86 brick-and-mortar charters already operating.

The proposed schools would add some 15,000 charter school seats and cost the district hundreds of millions of dollars.

Charter school opponents like the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools argue that the district should invest money in existing public schools.

The Philadelphia School Partnerships, a pro-charter philanthropic group that includes Drexel University president John Fry on its board, offered $25 million to the district earlier this month to help offset the costs of adding new charters and another $10 million to improve existing district schools.

Republican legislators are also pushing for new charters in the city, The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting.

A list of the proposed schools along with detailed applications are available on the district website. A dozen schools are proposed around West Philadelphia. Charter application evaluation reports are available here.

Wednesday’s meeting will likely be live streamed here.

– Mike Lyons