The line at the Penn Alexander School at about 9 p.m. on Sunday.
The line to register a student in grades 1 through 8 at the Penn Alexander School began at 7:30 a.m. today, more than 24 hours before registration begins.
As of 9 p.m. this evening about 20 people had set up camping chairs along the school’s fence along Locust Street between 42nd and 43rd. A clipboard hung from the fence near the school entrance. Several parents, who will spend the night waiting in line in hopes of getting a spot in the school’s crowded lower grades, had been in line by 5 p.m.
“I feel like an idiot,” said one parent, a Penn professor who recently returned from sabbatical leave to realize he had to re-register his 3rd and 5th graders at the school. “I can’t speak for everyone here, but personally I feel like an idiot.”
Several parents in the line faulted the school for its reluctance to address the overcrowding problem. Suggestions have ranged from starting a lottery for the lower grades to expanding the school’s capacity by erecting temporary trailers.
Parents have often waited in line to register children at the school’s kindergarten, but the line to register students in grade school is a new phenomenon brought on by word that the school would for the first time institute a cap on lower grade levels.
Registration is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow. School officials have already said that many who hope to register for the lower grades, particularly 1-3, will likely be turned away.
August 14th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I smell an emerging West Philadelphia tradition forming. Cookouts, tents, maybe some music and performances… this could be our generation’s Clark Park Festival!
August 14th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Lottery.
Sibling preference.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:32 am
Are these parents in the catchment area? How can the school turn away kids in the catchment area. Where will they go if they don’t make it in?
August 15th, 2011 at 9:47 am
Please lottery and sibling preference, the line up is getting worse and worse each year.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:56 am
@ Peggy B – The school and district have said that the school is crowded in the lower grades and that even if a student lives in the catchment area there is no guarantee that they will get a spot. Here is some background:
http://bit.ly/muxZ8I
August 15th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Catchment area parents should check out the Lea School, their other option. It uses a better math curriculum (Everyday Math instead of Investigations) and will have a great after school enrichment program this coming year.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Does anyone know how other notable schools have handled such issues? Does Meredith, McCall, etc guarantee spots for all of their catchment families? Is PAS the only neighborhood school in Philadelphia to have this issue/response? Is there an alternative model that has worked in other neighborhoods?
August 15th, 2011 at 10:42 am
Sara, I think the other schools can change their catchment boundaries if needed whereas PAS’s is written in stone. I’ve seen Meredith parents advise house shoppers to call the school to confirm a house is in the catchment because the boundaries change slightly from year to year.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:19 am
This morning was a very orderly affair. The staff at the school was extremely helpful, the people in line kind to each other, and everyone seemed to leave leave happy. In fact, it appeared that even people who showed up moments before the doors opened gained a slot for their kids. It almost seems like the frenzy over space at the school is bigger than the actual problem. Am I mistaken?
August 15th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
A lottery does not solve the problem. Rather, a lottery just guarantees that some students will get excluded from their neighborhood school (and at no fault of their own). The community needs to come together to find a creative solution for a challenging problem and not endorse a quick and convenient “fix” like a lottery, which will just institutionalize the overcrowding problem. Put simply, it is not acceptable to decide the fate of a child’s education at random through a game of chance.
August 15th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
I would love to hear from someone who was in the line. @Local Resident, were you in the line registering your child(ren)? Those who were in the line, did your kid(s) get in? If your were turned away, what options are you weighing?
August 15th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
How about this creative solution for a challenging problem? PAS takes kids in order of need – Free / Reduced lunch kids, kids with disabilities, and english language learners get first priority then we go down the line with children from the wealthiest families getting last dibs. The current system – who can get in line first – works in the reverse, giving a preference to wealthy, two-parent, highly-educated families who have the resources to stay on top of when the line will start, take a day off of work, and/or to hire someone to watch the kids while they camp out in line. The current system ensures that the students – through no fault of their own – with the least involved parents are the least likely to get a slot. Meanwhile, it is wasteful to spend money expanding PAS when there are other schools, only blocks away, that have open seats.
lottery. sibling preference.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
@David: Your proposal would certainly be consistent with the awards Amy Gutmann has received in part because of Penn’s investment in PAS (2009 Carnegie Coroporation Academic Leadership Award; 2011 Judge Lois Forer Child Advocacy Award).
August 15th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Expanding this school might be a boon to the neighborhood but where will the money and teachers for that come from? In case y’all didn’t notice, the district is in the midst of an absolute crisis and the beginning of this year is going to be an absolute mess.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:08 am
I disagree with David. I was in that line, and am not one of the “privledged and wealthy”. I found someone to watch my child while we stood in line for 15 hrs, and had to miss work time to do it. There were long time residents bringing in line people new to the neighborhood; people of different cultures, those not speaking the best english, etc. Everyone was helpful to everyones needs, regardless of class, race, religions, wealth or language barriers. There were people who had their children with them in line until the last moment as well. As far as those children whose parents are the “least involved”, plenty of information was given about the school registration, and people were warned about waiting. It is up to the parent then to make the decision to wait it out or find an alternative school for their child. Perseverance was key to enrolling, not wealth.
August 16th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
A lottery is all that kids outside of the PAS catchment have to try to get into a good school: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/s/student-placement/programs–services/voluntary-transfer
And the PAS families who don’t make it in should not be so frightened of the other neighborhood schools. Why can’t you send your kids to our kids’ schools? What are you so afraid of? If opening PAS was supposed to be a force for good in the neighborhood than it is time for it to spill-over to other schools. If the group of camping and organizing PAS parents donated the same hours and energy spent waiting on line or following the registration gossip or signing ridiculous petitions to improving the other neighborhood schools they could create powerful changes that benefit the entire community.
August 16th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Eva, the very fact that you were able to find someone to watch your kid and your employer allowed you to miss work means you do have privileges that not all parents have. I think what David is pointing to is that many of the people in line have a system of supports that enable them to “persevere,” supports that families with less social or financial capitol simply do not have.
August 17th, 2011 at 9:52 am
What David said is incorrect. I was there so I know. Parents were either dropped off or all drove regular cars, so they are not wealthy. Several of them are single parents, because we talked and we were helping each others. I also got an approval for a day off without pay in advance. The only common thing we share is our determination. It is the same determination many of us had on our kids everyday since we became their parents. So I don’t see a big deal of camping there overnight, so they can go to a school closer to our home, which is close to our workplaces, so that we can spend more times with them during school days. We didn’t know if we would get our daughter in, so we did our research and knew which neighborhood school we would prefer to send her to if the cap was reached. Parent involvement is the most important thing for a school to succeed, PAS is not different, and it is the second reason we want to send her to PAS.