The Coalition’s Amara Rockar provided the information below on participating schools. Parents interested in visiting a school should call and verify the times.
A. D. Harrington School
5300-34 Baltimore Ave
19143
(215) 471 – 2914 www.philasd.org/schools/harrington
Open House: CONFIRMED, 9:09-9:54
B. B. Comegys School
5100 Greenway Ave.
19143
(215) 727 – 2162
Open House: Not confirmed
Alain Locke School
4550 Haverford Ave.
19139
(215) 823 – 8202
Open House: CONFIRMED, 9-10:30
Martha Washington Academics
766 N. 44th St.
19104
(215) 823 – 8203 www.philasd.org/schools/marthawashington Open House: Occurring on 4/2 instead OF 3/1, Time TBA.
Samuel Powel School
301 N. 36th St.
19104
(215) 823 – 8201 www.philasd.org/schools/powel
Open House: No Open House events planned but prospective parents welcome to drop by in the morning.
School reform advocates from West Philly will no doubt be on hand for a rally today in front of the Philadelphia School District offices at 440 N. Broad St. to call on the district to open up the process of reform to students, parents, teachers and community members.
Teacher Action Group (TAG), an organization of reform-minded teachers, is organizing the rally, which is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Writer Tim Whitaker puts this week’s late-night theft of 58 laptops and other equipment from West Philadelphia High School – valued at about $80,000 – into context with the other struggles the school has had in recent months in a post on Philadelphia Magazine’s website today.
The ski-masked thieves were caught on surveillance video taking the equipment early Wednesday morning. Police are still investigating the thefts, which are the latest blow to West. Earlier this month, dozens of students walked out of the school in protest of ongoing changes there, including three new principals this school year.
In the article, entitled The Biggest Embarrassment in Philadelphia, Whitaker lauds former principal Saliyah Cruz, who was also praised by students and parents before she was moved out of the school. He writes:
Things have been deteriorating steadily and dramatically at West Philadelphia High, one of the city’s oldest and most iconic educational institutions, for decades.
But for a brief time, just a moment ago but all but forgotten already, there was hope. Hope came in the form of Saliyah Cruz, a passionate principal who mobilized and inspired a troop of young and devoted teachers to her mission for three years at West Philadelphia High School until she was shown the door at the end of the 2010 academic year.
Some of the nearly 100 students who walked out of West Philadelphia High School last week talk with reporters. (Photo courtesy of The Notebook.)
West Philly resident, professor and blogger Drick Boyd published an insightful post on Sunday about what is happening at West Philly High and the lengthy string of changes that have been made this year, including three different principals. About 100 students voiced their anger at the changes by walking out of the school on Feb. 11.
Today about 40 students walked out of Audenried High School on Tasker Street to protest their school’s conversion to a charter school. The “process” that Boyd writes about at West Philly High is the sweeping nature of the changes with seemingly little consultation with students or parents.
He writes:
The mild “uprisings” in West Philadelphia and South Philadelphia are a sign that people in those communities care about education and their kids and they want an authentic seat at the table. They don’t want to be pawns in quick fixes or faddish educational ideas. More than anyone, they know that the future of precious lives are at stake, because those lives are either theirs (students) or the lives of people about whom they deeply care (parents and community members).
Boyd’s post also appeared on The Notbook site today.
Parents, teachers and school administrators gathered at West Philadelphia High School (4700 Walnut St.) last night to discuss that school’s transition to a “promise academy,” a sometimes controversial school district label that includes several measures designed to improve struggling schools. For many parents it means just another change.
These changes include firing the teaching faculty and rehiring a maximum of 50 percent of those teachers back is part of the district’s Renaissance school program. That means that West, which has seen a lot of change in recent years, including three principals in less than year, will start the next academic year with its fourth principal and a largely new faculty. West will be “traditional”promise academy, meaning extra instruction time, including Saturdays, governance by a School Advisory Council and a host of other changes. The Philadelphia Public School Notebook has a nice breakdown of the different Renaissance school designations here.
Many parents and teachers, though, are growing tired with constant changes at their schools.
Here is a Fox29 story about the meeting:
And here is a fact sheet on the Renaissance schools program:
Fox29 was at Powell Elementary yesterday for a discussion of the school district’s Imagine 2014 strategic plan. The discussion specifically concerned facilities and the possibility of closing and consolidating some schools.
A full account of the facilities plan is available here.
Here’s the Fox29 story:
The West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools has sent word that the School District of Philadelphia will hold a Kindergarten Open House day on Tuesday, March 1.
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