Due to the heat, the School District of Philadelphia has announced that all of its schools will close at 1:30 p.m. today.

Here is the statement from the District:

Due to extreme heat and humidity, all School District of Philadelphia schools will close early today, June 1, 2011.  According to the National Weather Service, the combination of temperatures in the mid 90s and high humidity could create a situation in which heat illness is possible.  The District is taking this excessive heat warning seriously by closing schools at 1:30 p.m. today.  At the 1:30 p.m. dismissal time, routine transportation will occur for students.  The heat advisory in effect until 8 p.m.

The general public and media are urged to monitor the District Web site at www.philasd.org for any updates. Updated information will also be posted on the District’s Information Hotline at 215-400-INFO (4636).

The School Reform Commission is scheduled to vote tonight on a provisional budget that would eliminate full-day kindergarten, many school programs and thousands of School District of Philadelphia jobs.

The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at the auditorium of the School District Education Center, 2nd floor, 440 N. Broad Street. Although the deadline for signing up to speak at the meeting has passed, it is open to the public.

A summary of the proposed budget is available here.

The budget is provisional and could be revised if funding is made available either at the city or state level.

A full slate of kindergarten open houses are on tap for next week. These open houses have some added significance for many with the limited number of spots at the Penn Alexander School and the recent news that enrollment in the school’s lower grades will be limited beginning next year regardless of whether a student lives in the school’s catchment area or not.

Some schools are putting more effort into this open house than in the past. For example, days of planning have gone into the open house at the Henry C. Lea School, where the group West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools has helped the school’s Home and School Association take care of everything from catering to publicizing the school’s May 23 open house. Lea’s catchment area borders Penn Alexander’s to the west.  Penn Alexander‘s open house is May 24 at 9:30 a.m. The Samuel Powel School will not have an open house.

The schedule for Lea’s open house (the only one where a full schedule was available) is:

8:20 – 8:40 a.m Meet and Greet with principal Dr. Lisa Bell-Chiles in the library
8:45 – 9:30 a.m. Kindergarten Open House, Rooms 101 and 102
9:35 – 10:00 a.m. Lea School Tour lead by Maurice Jones
10:05 – 10:20 a.m. Kindergarten teacher Ms. Mykytiuch will be free to talk to parents, Room 101
10:25 – 10:45 a.m. Meeting with Lea Home School Association President Maurice Jones and others in the library
10:50 – 11:05 a.m. Kindergarten teacher Ms. McCloskey will be free to talk to parents, Room 102

Other open houses in the neighborhood include (list courtesy of the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools):

A. D. Harrington School
5300-34 Baltimore Ave
(215) 471 – 2914
5/24, 9:00-10:00
Kindergarten teacher: Ms. Davis

Alain Locke School
4550 Haverford Ave.
(215) 823 – 8202
5/24 – 9-11 a.m.

Alexander Wilson School
1300 S. 46th St.
(215) 823 – 8206
5/24 – 9 a.m.
B. B. Comegys School
5100 Greenway Ave.
(215) 727 – 2162
5/24, 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Charles Drew School
3724 Warren St.
Phone: (215) 823 – 8204
5/26, 10:00-11:00
Kindergarten teacher: Ms. Gunderstorf

Penn Alexander School
4209 Spruce St.
(215) 823 – 5465
5/24 – 9:30 a.m.

Samuel B Huey School
5200 Pine St.
(215) 471 – 2901
NO OPEN HOUSE, Contact school to visit kindergarten individually

Samuel Powel School
301 N. 36th St.
(215) 823 – 8201
No open house

The group Parents United for Public Education will host a forum tonight to discuss the impact of possible state cuts in education funding that could jeopardize full-day kindergarten, free student public transportation and many other programs in Philadelphia public schools.

The forum will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the West Philadelphia Seventh Day Adventist Church at 46th and Haverford.

The School District of Philadelphia released a preliminary budget in late April that includes massive cuts in response to proposed cuts in state aid. The School Reform Commission has until May 31 to approve the budget.

Author Jacqueline Edelberg, the parent who helped turn her kids’ failing Chicago elementary school around, spoke to parents, teachers and community members earlier this month at the Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust). Video of her 30-minute talk, which includes the story of how she and other parents changed their school and advice on improving schools in general, is below.

Edelberg co-wrote How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance, which has become sort of a how-to guide to improve urban neighborhood schools. The West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools invited Edelberg to Lea, where the group of about 200 parents and community members is focusing much of its efforts. Lea has gained much attention in recent days as a possible alternative to Penn Alexander School, which plans to cap enrollment in some grades this fall.

Edelberg’s strategy, which she talks about in detail in the video, included opening the school up to the community and parents. Experts from the neighborhood taught workshops in her school and parents were always present in the classrooms.

Part 1:

 

 
Part 2

Several questions have arisen since the publication yesterday of the story about the Penn Alexander limiting enrollment.  We have been pursuing two things today:

One is a legal clarification on what exactly a catchment area means. More information on that is included below. We have also offered an official from the school or the University of Pennsylvania to write a note to parents and community members advising them on further steps for enrollment that we would publish. So far we have not received a reply.

Here is a list of questions to continue the conversation and some answers (Any comments or further clarification are greatly appreciated. Please leave a reply below):

• Is there no school that is obligated to take our kids?

This is where some clarification on the law probably would help. Some have asked if a class-action lawsuit is possible. The wording on the Penn Alexander Home and School Association website about what a “catchment” means is a reflection of the School District of Philadelphia wording: “Any school-age child living within this area is eligible to attend the school.” “Eligible” is the operative word. An education lawyer and former teacher from West Philly (apologies for the anonymity) wrote us that:

The district is under no legal obligation under state or federal law (short of potential mandates under the IDEA or mandates for schools that are under desegregation orders) to place any student in any particular school within its boundaries.  Under state law, a district must “enroll” every eligible student within its boundaries in “a” school, but there are no legal mandates giving students an entitlement to a particular school.

There are rights, he continued, to transfer out of “persistently dangerous” schools, but there are no legal requirements for the District to maintain a “neighborhood” school.

• If we don’t get a spot in our neighborhood school (PAS) we’re just supposed to apply to other schools and hope for the best?!

“If I wanted to apply to charter schools or apply to other neighborhood schools I would not have moved into ‘the catchment,’” one reader wrote. Parents with school-age children in the area who want their kids to stay in their neighborhood (to “walk to school”) have the option to send their children to the Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust) or the Alexander Wilson School (1300 S. 46th St.). West Philly Local is not in business to recommend schools to people, but it should be noted that a tremendous amount of activity has been happening recently at the Lea School. It has a Home and School Association that is growing and the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, which now includes nearly 200 parents and community members, is devoting much of its resources and efforts to the school. The website PhillySchoolSearch.com has an excellent primer on the transfer process.

My children may have to attend separate schools?

Penn Alexander officials have said that there will be no provisions made for siblings. As for other schools, again it depends on where you look.

Are there no future plans to expand PAS in the future?

So far, no.

How will enrollment for kindergarten happen if not a lottery?

A Penn Alexander official we talked to was emphatic that there would be no lottery. So in the near future it looks like lining up for the 50 or so spots is the only way. In March January the line-up began the night before registration began. The same school official said preference for first grade for next fall would be given to those students whose parents lined up but did not get a spot in kindergarten, making the fate of those who have to wait for the August 15 registration date even more precarious. This whole process is obviously not sustainable, but an alternative has not been announced.

How much of a dip in our home’s value should we expect?

No one can answer this for sure. Home prices have tripled within the catchment area since the school opened and everyone knows about the catchment premium on houses within the bouadaries (sometimes speculated to be as much as $100,000). It would seem logical to assume that this news will prick the housing bubble in the catchment boundaries. Real estate agents have capitalized on the catchment (see photo above). But home prices near the catchment have also appreciated greatly and if the Lea school keeps improving, there is reason to believe that home prices near it will continue to rise. One question is how many who have been on the fence about selling might be interested in selling right now?