Only one school in the area is slated to close, the Charles R. Drew School near 38th and Powelton, in the school consolidation plan unveiled yesterday by the School Reform Commission.

Beginning next school year students at Drew, which is a K-8 school, will be spread among Samuel Powel Elementary, Martha Washington Elementary, Alaine Locke School and Middle Years Alternative school.

The plan also changes the grade configuration in the 2013-2014 school year at Alexander Wilson School (46th and Woodland), which is currently K-6, to K-5. Sixth grade students will attend Shaw Middle School. Shaw (54th and Warrington) will expand from 7th and 8th grades to include 6th grade as well. Grade changes at Comegys Elementary (51st and Upland) and Harrington Elementary (53rd and Baltimore) to K-5 will also feed Shaw’s new configuration.

Students at two other local elementary schools – Lea Elementary and Penn-Alexander – will experience no changes under the plan, which will eliminate 14,000 empty seats. The School District of Philadelphia has said that it hopes to eliminate some 70,000 empty seats over the next several years.

Under the plan, West Philadelphia High School will be put for sale sometime during the 2012-2013 school year.

The District has scheduled a series of public meetings to discuss the consolidation plan. The fist meeting in West Philadelphia will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the new West Philadelphia High School.

The full report is available for download here.

Reader Lisa has written to us expressing her concern about the increasing number of dogs without leashes in our area. She wrote:

“I’ve been noticing more and more people walking their dogs without leashes. Inside the bowl at Clark Park is an accepted location, but I’m talking about up on the sidewalk, in the north section of the park, and around the neighborhood. I am afraid this is a bad trend, and something bad is going to happen. My dog does not like when other dogs run up to him, even if they are friendly, so we stay out of the bowl. Today I had to leave the park altogether because two large dogs were roaming the sidewalks quite a distance from their apparent owners. How do I know if they are friendly or not, or how close I can get without them trying to meet my dog, or if they will run immediately to their owners if called? There are plenty of children (and adults) who are not fond of dogs either. It is likely that off-leash dogs make them uncomfortable also.

I’m sure the owners think their dogs are perfectly trained, always friendly, and thus special and safe enough to disobey the law. Many may be right, but certainly there are exceptions. Is it really fair to ask me to assume that any off-leash dog must be friendly and safe just because the owner obviously thinks it is? Can a parent be expected to promise their child that the 80 pound dog down the street is not going to run up to her? Everyone has the right to feel safe. That is the point of the leash law. I’m glad owners of social dogs have the bowl to let their animals run, but that should be the only place. What can we do? Post more leash law signs? Ask the police to give out tickets for a while? Or will a few good dog fights or bitten children solve the problem?”

Lisa adds that she does NOT want law enforcement to ticket dogs that are off-leash.  Also, with the number of dogs, it is remarkable how rarely we see missed droppings in the neighborhood.  The community is generally good at that.  However, she does not want “a few overconfident people to mess things up.”

We will know a lot more about which schools will close or consolidate in West Philadelphia after today’s School Reform Commission (SRC) meeting, which for the first time, will be streamed live online.

The SRC is scheduled to release its tentative master plan to address the estimated 70,000 empty seats in the district. The plan includes a list of schools that will be closed, consolidated or have grade changes. The list will be the subject of a series of community meetings over the next several months.

A leaked preliminary report that recommended that the Alexander Wilson School (1300 S. 46th St.) be closed and students transferred to the Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust St.) fueled speculation that fairly drastic changes were ahead for schools in our area. The District responded that the leaked report was merely a rough draft that was far from the final recommendations. There was even speculation that the much-debated catchment area for the Penn Alexander School (43rd and Locust) would be redrawn, though that seems unlikely. A much more clear picture of those changes should emerge from today’s meeting.

The SRC meeting begins at 3 p.m. today and the announcement on the proposed changes is scheduled for 5 p.m. For the first time the SRC meeting will be streamed live at the District’s website. The meeting will also be broadcast on its cable channel, which is available to Comcast (Channel 52) and FIOS (Channel 20) subscribers.

A couple of dozen pumpkins entered our 2011 Pumpkin Carving Contest. The artistic endeavor and sheer jack-o-lovliness has impressed folks far and wide. Alas, there can only be a handful of winners. And here they are:

• Reader’s Choice –  Bimal Desai‘s toothy, super-freak of a pumpkin (Pumpkin 21) topped the voting (160 votes cast). Bimal wins gift certificates from Wake Up Yoga and Dock Street Brewery.
• Kids – Wyatt Baker, 8, and his super crafty use of the stem (Pumpkin 4). Wyatt wins a tote bag and a gift card from VIX Emporium.
• Philly-themed – Katrine Lvovskaya and Becca Lausch with “Fall-o-delphia”, their homage to our lovely skyline and the love that is the Love Statue (Pumpkin 17). Katrine and Becca win a gift card from Milk & Honey Market.
• Scariest –  Terry Coleman – That “Gears of War” skull freaked the judges out a lot (Pumpkin 5). Terry wins a gift certificate from Aksum cafe/restaurant.
• Funniest/Ironic/ Wow! – Nate Johnson (Pumpkin 19). There has to be a place in our awards for a pumpkin that just blew the judges’ minds. A fitting tribute to REM and Michael Stipe a couple of weeks after the band announced the (yes, we had to do it) End of their World as We Know it. Nate wins a fall food basket from Mariposa Food Co-op.

Last but not least, we want to give a hearty shout out to everyone who entered a pumpkin and all who voted.

This week’s featured cat is Jax, an adorable 12-14-week-old tuxedo kitten. Jax is currently in the window at Baltimore Pet Shoppe (4532 Baltimore Ave).

This kitten started life rough (in a weed-choked lot in West Philly), but despite that, is a super sweet, loving and trusting little guy. He has a mellow temperament, loves to play with toys, and is always happy to have his belly rubbed or be held for a cuddle.

Jax is neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, dewormed and flea treated. If you would like to meet him please stop by Baltimore Pet Shoppe, where Jax will stay for one more week. He is available for adoption through Project M.E.O.W. To request an online adoption application please email: projectmeowadoptions [at] gmail.com.

If you’re free around lunchtime tomorrow swing by 30th Street Station for the opening of “Philadelphia’s next great public space.” The celebration starts at noon and will also include the unveiling of the new name of the plaza along Market Street adjacent to the station – once a sort of dangerous and confusing mix of pedestrians dashing to make trains, taxis and Market Street traffic. Now it has trees, tables, chairs and sensible traffic patterns, making it a fitting introduction to our fair ‘burg for commuters and tourists alike.

Tomorrow’s opening ceremony will include street performances, refreshments and live music.