We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry after this ABC6 story about parents braving frigid temps to get their kids into Penn Alexander’s kindergarten, which is capped at 50 students. We’re happy that such a school exists (full disclosure: we have a child there) and that parents care so much about their child’s education, but we’re sad that they are so scared of the alternatives that they feel they have to sleep outside on the coldest night of the year to get in.
This kind of stand-in-line, first-come-first-serve enrollment system obviously isn’t sustainable. Penn Alexander, which prides itself on small classes, is filling up quick in the lower grades as parents move to the neighborhood (some before they even have children) looking for the Holy Grail of a nice urban neighborhood and a good public school.
West Philadelphia High School garden. (Photo by Allison Ostertag)
The West Philadelphia High School Garden at 47th and Locust Streets needs a volunteer group or individual to design and/or build a rain water harvesting and garden watering system. A stand for a rain barrel needs to be built and the barrel needs to be adapted to collect rain free-standing, not from a downspout.
Right now the only access to water is inside the school, which is very inconvenient and unavailable during school breaks.
Volunteers should have some building skills, tools (they can be rented from the Tool Library) and possibly a vehicle to transport the lumber. The garden has drills, hammer nails and will supply building materials.
To apply and for more information contact Allison Ostertag at 504-710-5406 or by e-mail: freeduh2 – at – hotmail.com.
Philadelphia schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman will meet with concerned West Philadelphia parents and others on Monday, January 24 at the Philadelphia Business and Technology Center (5070 Parkside Ave., first floor) at 1 p.m. West Philadelphia Coalition for Neighborhoods and Businesses is organizing the talk and Ackerman is expected to discuss, among other things, the district’s strategic plan – Imagine 2014 – and community involvement in schools.
The meeting organizers want to remind those interested in attending that the entrance is on Columbia, not on Parkside.
The crisis in public education is perhaps the biggest challenge facing our city. You only have to go as far as our own neighborhoods to see the disparity among schools. To address these concerns, teachers, parents and students from some area schools are coming together tonight for a local screening of “A Community Concern,” a documentary about organizing for better urban public education, at the Enterprise Center CDC (4548 Market St.) in studio c. The film begins at 6:30 p.m. and doors open at 6.
From the organizers:
“A Community Concern is a new documentary about people who refuse to accept the system’s failures, and are working for change.Their spirit, passion and commitment shows that when organizers, parents, youth and educators work together, they are successful. It brings together stories of people who face different challenges, but share similar goals.”
West Catholic takes on South Fayette today in the PIAA Class AA state football championship at noon. If you didn’t make the trip to Hershey you can still catch the game live on television.
The game will be televised on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). Here is a listing of the channel numbers for a bunch of cable companies.
A New York-based religious leader penned an opinion piece in today’s Inquirer that outlines what many of us here already know – some creative problem-solving needs to be done to help public schools in West Philadelphia.
Howie Beigelman, deputy director of public policy at the Orthodox Union, and a handful of other religious leaders toured West Philadelphia High School, West Catholic High School and Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School – a public school, parochial school and charter school respectively – in early October. Students First organized the tour. Beigelman highlighted the differences between the three schools, notably that the atmosphere was “less hopeful” at West Philadelphia High, where he observed that teachers often locked their doors during class.
He continues:
The three schools may be within walking distance of one another and serve families from the same community, but they might as well be worlds apart. As we know, West Catholic must charge tuition and Boys’ Latin has a limited enrollment, about one-half the size of West Philadelphia High. So despite living in a community with multiple school options, most students have access only to West Philadelphia.
This comes as no surprise to most of us. Nor do his possible solutions, but they are worth repeating. Beigelman sees some hope in the possible expansion of earned income tax credits and opportunity scholarships. It might also help, he notes, to expand the number of charter schools and increasing aid to all children. The opportunity scholarships aimed at low-income students that he is talking about are addressed in Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1405, introduced by State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams and others over the summer.
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