A plan to keep middle school students in the Powelton Village neighborhood closer to home got a significant boost yesterday.

The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) awarded a $215,000 grant to devise a plan that would add a fifth grade to Powel Elementary, which is currently K-4, and create a new middle school in the neighborhood. The grant marks the first time that PSP, which manages a philanthropic education fund, has invested in a public school in the city.

“The Powel community has long imagined an expansion of our current program to include fifth grade, and the opportunity for our students to attend a high-quality middle school in our neighborhood,” Powel principal Kimberly Ellerbee said in a statement.

PSP awarded the grant to a consortium that includes Powel, Science Leadership Academy (SLA) and Drexel University. Drexel President John Fry sits on the board of directors at PSP, which has raised about $50 million in grants for private and charter schools. As a vice president at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1990s Fry was a key architect of the changes in the neighborhoods around Penn, including the creation of the University City District and the Penn Alexander School.

Officials from SLA, a top magnet school in the city, will consult on the creation of a middle school.

The Inquirer‘s Kristen A. Graham reports that members of the School Reform Commission approves of the plan in concept. The SRC, which is currently considering another round of school closures, would need to sign off on adding a grade and a new middle school.

Powel hopes to add the new grade by next fall and the middle school could be open as early as the fall of 2014.

A 24-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint last night near 47th and Larchwood, according to police. At approximately 11 p.m., the man was standing in front of his apartment, pulling his keys out of the door, when he heard someone behind him say “Yo”. The victim thought it was his friend, but when he turned around he saw an unknown male pointing a gun at him. The victim handed the robber his backpack, $40.00 dollars and his iPhone. The phone was secured with a password which the robber asked for as well.

We are also trying to confirm with police an abandoned firearm report that we received from a reader. Apparently, someone reported a man with a gun on the 4300 block of Spruce last night and around 1 a.m. a few police cars showed up. They caught the suspect, but couldn’t find the gun that the suspect apparently disposed of somewhere on that block. The reader says that the policemen left after 20 minutes of searching the area.

It’s always great news to hear that a local business is doing well, especially when it’s expanding into other locations. One of the anchor businesses in the area, the Green Line Cafe, has posted an announcement that on October 1 it’s opening a shop in Center City, at 15th and Moravian – a couple blocks away from City Hall. Green Line will take over the Cafe Loftus currently operating in that location. This will be Green Line’s fourth shop, with other locations at 45th and Locust, 43rd and Baltimore and 37th and Lancaster. They also operate a kiosk inside the Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.

This news comes as Green Line, a family-owned business, begins celebrating their 10th anniversary. The first Green Line Cafe opened in January 2003 at 43rd and Baltimore.

A Mennonite choir performed in Clark Park this morning under the watchful eye of Charles Dickens and Nell. Luckily they left before the sword-fighting kids showed up.

Update (Oct. 3): Neemah has been found and returned to her owner (see comments).

Sep. 21, 8:27 pm: A female lab/shepherd mix, Neemah, got out of her house on Thursday (Sept. 20) around 10 p.m. and ran west. She was last seen at 51st and Catharine. She’s an older dog and is likely very nervous. She is not familiar with the area.

Please call 434-989-5670 with any information.

The Merry Wives of Windsor in Clark Park. July 2012.

A fundraising campaign is currently underway to help bring more free Shakespeare shows to the neighborhood. Some of The Merry Wives of Windsor shows this past summer were rained out and end-of-performance red bucket donations were half of what is needed to make next year’s show possible. To support Shakespeare in Clark Park, please visit The Red Bucket Campaign page and submit your donation.

NOTE: The fundraising campaign ends on Sunday, 11:59 p.m.