Community members are invited to the monthly meeting of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) on Tuesday, Feb. 10 to meet Henry C. Lea Principal Jennifer Duffy, who will talk about the happenings at Lea.

Duffy is in her first year as principal of Lea and one of about 50 first-time principals hired across the School District of Philadelphia this year. Duffy has placed a priority on raising academic standards and strengthen the school’s relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, where she is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership.

The SHCA meeting gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at the association’s headquarters (257 S. 45th St.)

In other Spruce Hill news, the zoning committee meeting to consider the well-publicized plans to build a residential/retail complex at 43rd and Baltimore (across the street from Clark Park) will be held Feb. 19 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The University of the Science’s Rosenberger Hall (the small building on the west side of 43rd Street, just north of Woodland Avenue). This is the meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 26 that was cancelled due to weather.

The meeting actually begins at 6:30 p.m. when committee will consider a liquor license request from Fresh Grocer at 40th and Market and a residential project at 4100-02 Ludlow St. This is also open to the public. The 4224 Baltimore Ave. project discussion will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. The development team for the site is preparing materials for presentation to the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee and will share those plans to date.

Click on the images below to view breakfast and lunch menus served at local public schools for the rest of the month. If your school uses a Satellite menu, click here.

K-8 Breakfast and Lunch Menu, Feb. 2015

9-12 Breakfast and Lunch Menu, Feb. 2015

WePAC head David Brown reads to Kindergartners at the Hamilton School (Photo from WePAC’s Facebook page).

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) has reopened another public school library, this time at the K-8 Andrew Hamilton School (57th and Spruce). Students there have not had regular access to books in the school library, which will reopen one day a week, for 10 years, according to WePAC.

WePAC replaced most of the books, including non-fiction titles that were up to 85 years old, and spent hundreds of hours getting the library ready for Hamilton students. The library is the 13th that the organization has helped revamp, reopen and staff. Another 20 schools are on WePAC’s waiting list.

There are currently about 125 volunteers at WePAC who help operate the school libraries, which serve about 6,000 students weekly.

Most of the libraries that WePAC staff operate are on a modest schedule, opening one or two days a week. Part of WePAC’s strategy is to get libraries restocked and operating so that parents and community members can build on their work to keep the library going.

In an effort to improve teacher selection process, the School District of Philadelphia has launched a new online teacher application portal. Approximately 400 teacher vacancies are expected for the 2015-16 school year. “Our revamped selection process is designed to attract highly qualified and committed teachers to The School District of Philadelphia,” Superintendent Dr. William R. Hite said in a statement.

“We hope new-to-teaching and experienced educat[ors] will join our efforts to make all schools great,” Hite said.

In addition to the online application, the teacher selection process now includes a phone interview and other online activity, both administered centrally, before candidates are presented to principals for site selection.

The hiring timeline has been shortened compared to previous years. Qualified candidates will know within four to six weeks if they are eligible for site selection.

The School District is particularly seeking to hire individuals with experience in secondary math (grades 5-12), secondary science (grades 5-12), special education, art, music, and upper elementary (grades 5-6). Approximately 9,000 teachers currently work for the District. The District’s starting salary for teachers with no experience is $45,360.

The application is available through the Employment section and Office of Talent webpage on the District website (www.philasd.org).

Teacher candidates may contact recruitment@philasd.org for more information.

Here’s this week’s menu for local public schools (Monday, Feb. 2 through Friday, Feb. 6). If your school uses a Satellite menu, click here.

Come back every Sunday evening for the coming week’s menu.

BREAKFAST (K-12)

A variety of three cereals will be offered daily and served with a yogurt parfait or a mini loaf.

Monday

Choose 1: Chicken Sausage, Egg & Cheese on English Muffin or Cinnamon Granola Round
Choose 1: Raisins or Fresh Pear
Variety of Milk

Tuesday

Choose 1: Mini French Toast or Cream Cheese Filled Pretzel
Choose 1: Pear Cup or Fresh Apple
Variety of Milk  Continue Reading

All public and Archdiocesan schools in Philadelphia will be closed on Tuesday, Jan. 27 due to the snow storm, and all after-school activities are canceled, according to the city government and School District of Philadelphia announcements released Monday night. City offices and courts will also be closed.

UPDATE: The latest estimate for snowfall during the overnight storm is 2 to 4 inches.

Stay tuned for more weather-related announcements.