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 success of the Penn Alexander school (4209 Spruce St.) sometimes overshadows what happens at other schools in the neighborhood. The fact is that many of these schools, while having individual successes, are struggling overall. The students are bright, the teachers are usually qualified and engaged, but the schools are not living up to their potential.
One problem is the lack of parental involvement in schools. Research has consistently shown that parental involvement is a key factor in a students success as well as a school success. Another factor, activists argue, is the school system itself.
The Enterprise Center hosted a screening of a school reform documentary called “A Community Concern,” which chronicles grassroots neighborhood reform efforts in the Bronx, Oakland and Boston. The documentary makes it clear thast school reform is rarely just a top-down process – that there has to be movement from below, among parents, community leaders, teachers and students to make real change. After the screening, several community members involved in school reform in West Philly discussed their efforts. These include parents from West Philadelphia High School (4700 Walnut St.), Henry C. Lea Elementary (4700 Locust St.) and Alain Locke Elementary School (4550 Haverford Ave.).
The same grassroots organizing that changed schools in Oakland, Boston and New York is alive in West Philadelphia as well with groups such as the West Philly Coalition of Neighborhood Schools.
The following excerpts from the discussion will provide an important primer on the efforts in local schools and a window into the issues that need to be addressed.
The burgeoning visual arts program at Henry C. Lea Elementary School (4700 Locust St.) in West Philly needs volunteer artists to join kids who want to improve their school. The students want to make change happen at their school through an aesthetic/design intervention.
Artists are needed to help create murals in transitional areas in the school, including stairways and hallways at Lea.
“Research shows that these are the areas where kids feel the least safe, especially in urban schools,” said Yvette Almaguer, a professional visual merchandiser who along with Lea art teacher John F. Try is leading the program.
The visual team consists of sixth, seventh and eighth graders who will be part of the collaborative process of designing, producing and installing the works. The program is seeking help from a number of potential sponsors and hopes to get the program started in March. If you’re interested call 917-602-7998 or write Yvette at yarecess – at – gmail.com.
Brandon Ford (right) with West Philly Hybrid X Team teammates Shamere Palmer (center) and Stefon Gonzales. (Photo from Hybrid X Team Flickr feed, www.flickr.com/photos/evxteam)
When First Lady Michelle Obama’s guests settle in tonight for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, a young West Philadelphian will be among them.
West Philadelphia High School junior Brandon Ford, a leader on the school’s famed West Philly Hybrid X Team, is on a very short list of guests of the first lady announced last night. Ford forgot his school ID last September when members of the team traveled to the White House to stand with President Obama for the announcement of a new science program. He was not allowed in. But, as the Inquirer points out today, the White House didn’t forget him.
The West Philly Hybrid X Team has garnered national attention for its fuel efficient car designs that have fared very well at competitions that have included teams from automotive companies and Ivy League universities.
Ford, who also plays football at West, left with his mother, Linda Jackson, on the 8:15 a.m. train for Washington this morning.
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