The School District of Philadelphia has announced Phase III, the final phase of the Hybrid Learning Plan for the 2020-2021 school year, which provides an opportunity for in-person learning to students in grades six to nine and students with complex needs in grades 10-12. All other students in grades 10-12 will remain in 100 percent digital learning for the remainder of the school year.

Between Tuesday, April 20 and Tuesday, April 27, families of students in these groups can choose to participate in the hybrid model – two days of in-person learning and three days of digital learning – beginning the week of May 10. Phase III families will receive an email with instruction on how to sign up. Continue Reading

Spring is here, so is time to plant summer flowers, veggies and herbs. Here’s some info on local spring plant sales and other opportunities to buy plants and veggie and herb starters in the area. Happy planting!

The University City Garden Club is holding its annual spring plant sale online this year. This is a fundraiser sale, proceeds from which will be used to support greening and civic beautification. The sale features annual flowers for shade and sun locations, herbs, vegetables and plants for gifts, as well as containers and hanging baskets. The shop and order period runs until Thursday, April 15. Contactless curbside pickup of pre-orders will be Saturday, May 1 at 517 Woodland Terrace near the 40th Street Trolley Portal. Go here to browse the plant selection and place your order: ucgcshop.square.site. Continue Reading

The School District of Philadelphia has launched an online dashboard that tracks confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in schools. The dashboard includes information on the number of tests performed and positive cases in schools, as well as cases confirmed off-site that have been reported to the District.

Dashboard users can track COVID-19 cases overall in the District and individually per school.

Initial dashboard data shows a very low COVID positivity rate in the District. So far, there have been 64 confirmed COVID-19 cases in District schools, with less than 1 percent of students and staff testing positive for the virus each week over the last four weeks through April 3. Continue Reading

Here’s some more exciting news from the historic Woodlands Cemetery and Mansion.

You may have noticed a new wood log installation near the road not far from the entrance where Tiny Circus usually holds its performances during West Craft Fests. By the way, that area is called a Community Welcome Zone. Here’s the story behind the installation, according to the Woodlands’ Program and Operations Manager Emma Max.

The Woodlands has recently completed tree work as part of the general tree upkeep and maintenance program. One large tree had fallen and two large trees died over the past year, which is not uncommon with over 1,000 mature trees onsite. Placing the large, hollowed out logs in the Community Welcome Zone was the idea of the Woodlands Arborist, Chris Arader of Arader Tree Service. Continue Reading

The city’s Department of Public Health is opening three walk-up vaccine clinics in three neighborhoods, one of them in West Philly, to reach out to more residents over the age of 65 who haven’t yet received their COVID vaccine shots.

Starting today (Wed, April 7), Health Center 3 located in Clark Park at 43rd and Chester will host walk-up clinics every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for those who are 65 and older. Continue Reading

Philadelphia officials have announced the date of the start of Phase 2 of COVID vaccine eligibility, when everyone over the age of 16 will be eligible to get vaccinated. The date is April 19, the same as in Pennsylvania, and it is two weeks earlier from the previously estimated date – May 1.

Starting Monday, April 12, Philadelphia will expand vaccine eligibility to more groups of essential workers under the current Phase 1C. These groups include construction workers, transportation workers, social service workers, finance and legal workers, as well as people working in higher education and IT & telecommunications, and more. Phase 1C began yesterday, but only four groups of essential workers in this phase are currently eligible to get vaccinated: postal and package delivery workers, sanitation workers, utility workers, and maintenance and janitorial staff. Continue Reading