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 entrance to West Philadelphia High School.

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.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3 (it says “part 2,” but it’s part 3):

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.

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.

Here you can see more photos of the garden.

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.