This edition of the Notebook NEWSFLASH is also available online at: www.thenotebook.org/newsflash/2005/november
Notebook NEWSFLASH:
November 2005
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When eighth-grade students this month select which high school they'd like to attend next year, they'll have five more schools to choose from than the class before them, with new choices built around specific academic themes.
The result, Philadelphia School District officials say, is "more options" across a new and improved landscape of high schools in Philadelphia.
But will this new configuration of schools contribute to reduced dropout rates, address disturbingly low test scores, and provide an education relevant to students' future pursuits?
Perhaps the most critical barometer for all the changes will be the performance of the city's neighborhood high schools, which still serve over 60 percent of the District's high school students and where many of challenges to educating students are greatest.
Eighth-graders' high school applications are due November 18, and their selections will reveal the popularity of all the high school choices.
Among the new offerings is the "High School of the Future" on Parkside Avenue in West Philadelphia. Launched in partnership with Microsoft Corporation, the school promises state-of-the-art technology use and a student-to-computer ratio of one-to-one.
The Franklin Institute teams up with the District next fall to open a much-anticipated Science Leadership Academy, at 22nd and Arch Streets. And a building on 7th Street near Market will house the National Constitution Center Partnership High School for Law, Democracy and Civic Engagement, a college-preparatory program with a service-learning emphasis.
A selective new school will be the Academy at Palumbo, at 11th and Catherine Streets. A small school whose program is modeled after the District's acclaimed magnet Central High School, it sets admissions standards of nearly all A's and B's and at least an 88th-percentile ranking on citywide TerraNova exams.
The Science Academy sets similar admissions criteria, and incoming freshmen must attend an intensive summer science institute.
Who will benefit?
Two handouts promoting the Academy at Palumbo that
were given out at the District's high
school fair in late October laid out two divergent
statements of the school's admissions policy.
A brochure stated that all students at the school
would come from the area south of Market Street or
from Center City, while an information packet said
that 75 percent of students would be admitted from
the area south of Market Street.
The issue of admission policies at the new high schools is likely to be debated this month because the School Reform Commission is expected to take up a resolution on what District officials have called a "preferred choice" admissions plan. This approach, which has been strongly advocated by the Center City District for schools in Center City, would give a preference in admissions to students based on their region.
Al Bichner, who oversees the District's high schools, however, could not confirm in a recent interview whether the three new schools located in the Center City area would be in consideration for set-asides or preferred status to Center City families, as a number of elementary schools may be next fall.
"Sometimes we have to take into account whether the residents of Center City are being served well," he said.
However, a number of education advocates question whether the best educational opportunities are being distributed equitably throughout the city.
Len Rieser, co-director of the Education Law Center, said plans for the new schools were "exciting," but noted, "It sounds as though these new schools may end up serving mainly students who are already high achievers, not the students who are struggling."
Rieser said he supported the creation of the new high school options in Center City, but warned, "I can see it having a negative impact on the neighborhood high schools, unless there's some strategy to avoid that, and I don't know if that exists."
He explained, "It does seem like you could be draining some of the more academically successful kids from the neighborhood schools."
There is one new high school opening far from Center City. It is the District's third new military academy in three years - the Philadelphia Military Academy at the Frankford Arsenal.
Another new program with strict admission standards that eight-graders can apply to for next fall is based at Northeast High School - the Northeast Medical, Engineering and Aerospace Magnet.
Brian Armstead, Education Coordinator for Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, argued that exciting high school options should exist in every region and should not be limited to downtown.
Noting the concentration of new schools around Center City, Armstead observed. "I don't want to see other areas get exciting programs and ‘schools of the future,' while North Philadelphia, for example, gets the ‘Staples Office Worker School.'"
Admissions criteria established for the Microsoft-sponsored school provide for 25 percent of its students to come from throughout the city, and 75 percent from its broad West Philadelphia catchment area, primarily areas north of Market Street.
Breaking up the high schools
Meanwhile, in the neighborhoods, the District continues
to address a significant issue that studies show does
impact at-risk students - the large populations
of some of Philadelphia's high schools.
Most Philadelphia high school students attend schools with more than 1,000 students, despite research that schools with more than 700 students have 10 times the number of serious violent incident reports as schools with 350 students.
At a number of large neighborhood high schools - Franklin, Olney, Kensington, Bartram, and Germantown - 90 percent or more of the 11th graders scored below grade level in both reading and math.
The District has been creating smaller schools by dividing up existing large high schools, making annexes or branches into separate schools, and converting middle schools to high schools, all a part of the District's Small Schools Transition Project. By next fall, the District will have added 20 schools to its high school roster since 2003.
"Smaller school size - generally no more than 400 students - can help to counteract many of the problems plaguing high schools today, such as overburdened teachers who barely know the names of their students; low expectations for all but the highest-performing students; inadequate support for students needing extra assistance completing their coursework or planning for college; and curricula that fail to engage students in their own learning, " explains a study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which provides funds for small schools across the country.
Some small schools advocates have cautioned against the approach of merely erecting dividing walls to create new schools. Lacking a complete structural and cultural overhaul, many attempts at downsizing schools creates not small schools but "big schools in drag."
Indeed, when a wall was erected at FitzSimons School in a high school conversion effort that included establishing separate schools for girls and boys, students punched and kicked holes in the dividing wall.
This fall, that neighborhood has gender-separate schools: FitzSimons High School for Boys, at 2601 W. Cumberland, and Rhodes High School for Girls, at 3100 N. 29th St.
In another school that is being converted to a small
high school as part of the Small School Transition
Project - Sayre in West Philadelphia - the enrollment
is actually rising. Because of a change in feeder
patterns, Sayre's ninth grade class swelled to over
400 students this fall.
But at Kensington High, reconfiguring a large school
into a number of small schools has raised hopes for
an improved environment.
The main school and its annex were divided this fall into three schools: Creative and Performing Arts, Culinary Arts at the Emerald, and International Business, Finance and Entrepreneurship. Reports pointed to a far more orderly opening of school this past September.
This fall the trio of schools falls under the name Kensington High School Multiplex, each of them housing a ninth-grade Success Academy. Which academy students attend is determined by their roster choices. During the ninth grade, students choose which of the themed schools they prefer to attend for the rest of high school.
School spokesman Joe Lyons said the District's goal is to provide students with as seamless an experience as possible in regards to high school transitions.
Minimizing transition "is the kind of thing that will be worked out through time," he said. This process "is what makes sense right now. Obviously, it's not set in stone." He said the District would practice flexibility and positive-impact decision-making for assignment of students to schools.
Similar to Kensington, Olney is now two schools that fall under the Olney High School Educational Complex. Olney 704 carries creative and performing arts and social justice themes; and Olney 705 carries allied health, business and carpentry programs.
New construction is a big part of the District's plans. The District recently announced it has set its sights on ground for a fourth Kensington High School - to be built new. It has also begun negotiating for the 4601 Market Street site for a new West Philadelphia High School, which would have a state-of-the-art athletic field.
Officials say it is too early to determine what new schools might open in 2007.
Contact Notebook staff writer Sheila Simmons at 215-951-0330 x156 or sheilas@thenotebook.org.
In October, the School Reform Commission considered but did not yet approve the following resolutions (an October action meeting for voting on resolutions was postponed to November 9):
-Authorization for negotiations on 4601 Market
Street site for new West
Philadelphia High School
District representatives will negotiate with nonprofit
Urban Education Development Research and Retreat Center,
Inc., for purchase of 4601 Market. The 15-acre site
is proposed for the construction of a new West Philadelphia
High School.
-$2.6 million from general fund to Kaplan
K12 for curriculum development and benchmark testing.
The contract would provide scoring and data reports
for all secondary benchmark assessments in math, science
and English; consulting services for development of
three 12th-grade courses; and continued support for
staff on core curriculum.
-Terminate contracts with K12
Inc.
K12 Inc. would lose its $3 million contract to provide
science materials to grades K-3, and $250,000 contract
for professional services to Hunter School, in the
aftermath of an offensive racial
statement broadcast by company co-founder William
Bennett on his radio show. In its first year, the
science curriculum contract will conclude in June
2006. The measure was proposed by Commissioner Sandra
Dungee Glenn, and backed by Commissioner Martin Bednarek.
back to top
Nov. 2: The Invisible Minority: Dealing with Homophobia in Schools. 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Penn State Great Valley, Safeguard Scientifics Building, 30 E. Swedesford Rd., Malvern, PA. Sponsored by the Penn State Great Valley Diversity Council. Call 610-648-3294.
Nov. 2: Philadelphia Education Fund's 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner & Inaugural "Eddy" Awards. Reception: 6 p.m. Dinner 7 p.m. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South Street. Honoring civic leader Stanely C. Tuttleman, youth education devotee Natalie S. Allen, a coalition from the Camden City schools community, and college student Stephen Burton. Contact Diana Rodriguez Wallach, 215-665-1400, ext. 3312, or dwallach@philadedfund.org.
Nov. 3 - 5: 32nd Annual National Middle School Conference. Pennsylvania Convention Center. To feature nearly 500 concurrent sessions, workshops, and keynote presentations by known leaders in middle level education. Topics: Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Diversity, Curriculum, Technology and more. Visit www.nmsa.org or www.pmsaweb.org.
Nov. 3: High School Terror: Handling Hazing & Harassment. 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CORA Services, 8540 Verree Rd. Skills training seminar. Latest information and research on hazing and sexual harassment, as well as lessons on roles of responsibilities and prevention and intervention strategies. RSVP to 215-701-2702.
Nov. 3 - 5: Enhanced Workshop Productions from 2005 Playwright Festival. 8 p.m. Tomlinson Theater. 13th and Norris Streets. Original plays written by Philadelphia high school and middle school students to be presented by Temple University's Theater Department. Admission: free. Tickets are first-come, first-serve. Visit www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org/enhanced_workshop_productions.html.
Nov. 5: Third Annual Student Anti-Violence Summit: Knock Out the Violence with Peace. 8 a.m. - 2:30 pm. University City High School, 3601 Filbert St. Looks at best practices and how to implement them in the School District of Philadelphia. Focus on students in grades 7 - 10. Contact Student Anti-Violence Summit Hotline at 215-400-7283 or email SAVS@phila.k12.pa.us.
Nov. 5: What the Best Teachers Do Conference. 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. LaSalle University. Presented by Math & Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia at LaSalle. Key speaker: Kenneth Bain, Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University. School district administrators and supervisors gain insight on how to prepare students for college and can network with college faculty from various institutions. Registration: $35. Visit www.lasalle.edu/academ/educ/conference.htm.
Nov. 9: School Reform Commission Action & Planning Meeting. 1 p.m. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. To register to speak, call 215-400-4040 by 4:30 pm the day before the meeting.
Nov. 10: What Makes Small Schools Effective lecture and release of Dollars & Sense II publication. 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 7 Ben Franklin Pkwy. Dr. Craig Howley and Steven Bingler and Bobbie Hill, of Concordia LLC. Sponsored by Philadelphia Education Fund. Contact Harvey Chism, hchism@philaedfund.org, or 215-665-1400 ext. 3332.
Nov. 13: Film Screening: Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. 6 p.m. Gershman Y, Levitt Auditorium, 401 S. Broad St. Sponsored by Jobs with Justice & SEIU. For information, call 215-735-3615.
Nov. 14-15: Education Finance Symposium by Harrisburg's Education Policy & Leadership Center and Good Schools Pennsylvania. Opening session: 10 a.m. (Nov. 14). Symposium ends 3 p.m. (Nov. 15). Wyndham Harrisburg-Hershey. Learn latest developments in campaign for statewide school funding reform. Features Michael Rebell, Campaign for Fiscal Equity, and panel of Pennsylvania advocates. Registration: $79. Visit www.goodschoolspa.org, email Janis@goodschoolspa.org or call 866-720-4086.
Nov. 15: Philadelphia Student Union 10-Year Anniversary: Living the Change We Wish to See. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. The Enterprise Center, 46th and Market Streets (use Ludlow entrance). A celebration and fundraiser including dinner, silent auction, slide show, awards presentation, performances, recognition for PSU founder Eric Braxton. Tickets $50. Students: $20. Contact Courtney Lewis, 215-546-3290, courtney3845@yahoo.com
Nov. 15: Kensington High School planning meeting. 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Kensington Annex-Culinary School, 2463 Emerald St. Community members, Philadelphia Education Fund, Concordia planning and design consultants, parents, students, teachers, business leaders, and others continue new school planning. For more information, contact Tia Keitt, Philadelphia Education Fund, at 215-665-1400.
Nov. 15: Rock the Pen! Poetry Event. 10:30 a.m.-12 noon. Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St. Area high school students share the stage with professional poets in an interactive poetry workshop. Admission: $5 per student. Sponsored by PECO. For more information, call 215-925-9914, ext. 21.
Nov. 16: School Reform Commission Action Meeting. 1 pm. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad Street. To register to speak, call 215-400-4040 by 4:30 pm the day before the meeting.
Nov. 16: West Philadelphia High School Steering
Committee Meeting. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
School gymnasium, 48th & Walnut Streets. Community
members, Philadelphia Education Fund, Concordia
planning and design consultants, parents, students,
teachers, business leaders, and others continue new
school planning. Refreshments and childcare will be
provided. Participants will continue design plans
for new West Philadelphia High School. For more information,
contact Tia
Keitt, Philadelphia Education Fund, at 215-665-1400.
Nov. 16: West Phila. Parents of Autistic Children
Spectrum (P.A.C.S.) 6:15 p.m. - 7:30
pm. Cobbs Creek Recreation Center, 63rd and Spruce
Streets. Topic: Behavior Specialist Consultant (BSC):
What is it? How can it help you and your family? Presented
by Rashida McDonald. Childcare and refreshments provided.
Contact Roberta Bellamy, 215-472-2764.
Nov. 16: Workshop: Activists & Researchers: The Triumphs & Pitfalls of Working Together. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St., Sponsored by Bread & Roses' Barbara Smith Community School. Cost: $5 per person. Call 215-731-1107 x 202.
Nov. 16-19: The Social Responsibility of Higher Education. Pennsylvania Convention Center. Annual conference of Association for the Study of Higher Education. Visit www.ashe.ws/conf05/home05.htm.
Nov. 19: Conference: Helping Children Cope with Traumatic Grief in Today's World. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Bell Atlantic Teaching Center, Lower Level, Front & Erie Ave. Call 215-427-6767.
Nov. 25: Delaware Valley College Tours (DVCT) 4th Annual Benefit and Awards Reception. Reception: 6 p.m. Program: 7 p.m. Sheraton University City Hotel, 3549 Chestnut St. Fundraiser supports college tours, counseling, and SAT prep classes for underrepresented Philadelphia-area students. Call 215-226-0102 or email ajackson1953@yahoo.com.
Nov. 29: Philadelphia Education Fund's Distinguished Educator Lecture Series and presentation of First Person documentary. Dr. Elijah Anderson, author of Code of the Street, Streetwise, and Problem of the Century, and Ben Herold, director, First Person. 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 pm. United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. 7 Ben Franklin Pkwy. Contact PEF's Harvey Chism, hchism@philaedfund.org, or 215-665-1400 ext. 3332, or First Person's Ben Herold at 215-901-9774, benbreese@earthlink.net (At 7:30 pm, immediately after the presentation, the Public School Notebook and the First Person documentary project will jointly host a fundraising party at a nearby site. Email notebook@thenotebook.org or call the Notebook at 215-951-0330 x107 for details.)
Dec. 2: Deadline for applications for 2006 Documentary Youth History Project, a program for 8th - 12th graders. Youth write, shoot and edit documentary videos using professional equipment and techniques, learn more about their community and its history, earn a stipend. For information, contact Scribe Video Center at 215-222-4201 or e-mail inquiry@scribe.org.
Every Thursday: Talk radio program with Sandra Dungee Glenn, School Reform Commission member. 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. WURD 900 AM. Call-in number: 215-426-1310.
Ongoing: ASAP/After School Activities Partnerships offers School District staff the opportunity to lead chess clubs, proven to improve children's performance, in their schools. The School District will grant extra-curricular money and ASAP will provide training and materials. If interested, contact Ben Cooper at bcooper@phillyasap.org or 215-545-3072.
School Calendar
Nov. 11: Veterans Day. Schools and Administrative
Offices closed.
Nov. 24 - 25: Thanksgiving holiday. Schools and Administrative Offices closed.
The Notebook NEWSFLASH welcomes brief announcements of events addressing issues of quality and equity in Philadelphia public schools. Email your submission to flash@thenotebook.org with 'coming up' in the subject line. We cannot guarantee the listing of your event.
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