There seems to be an unusual spurt of construction underway in Frankford. I took a tour yesterday to take some pictures.
Not documented here but it looks to be under construction at the site of the new location for the Bridge at 1100 Adams Avenue.
Northwood Academy Charter School at 4621 Castor Avenue is well underway.
Saturday was one of those days we were waiting for after all the rain and then the chill of the past few weeks. It was also a busy day in Frankford with more events than I could hope to cover.
So first I stopped by the flea market sponsored by the parents of Mastery Charter School Smedley Elementary at Wissinoming Park. It was a beautiful morning and I found quite a few folks looking at the goods even that early.
Next stop was the Smedley building which is under construction of the new classrooms. The 15th District PDAC and the 15th District police officers were putting on a time for the kids. There was a great crowd of kids, parents, cops and PDAC folks there. If you look closely you will see Captain Bachmayer himself.
Pete Specos noted at the last Frankford Civic meeting that the zoning had been approved for the Smedley addition. I went by there yesterday and found the construction well underway.
As you can see the empty space within the outside walls at the back is being filled in with the gymnasium and new classrooms. Other improvements will be an elevator and air conditioning as well as a much needed electrical upgrade to the building.
I was doing my periodic scan of everyblock.com for Frankford issues and tripped over this page. Teacher at Smedley is trying to raise money for classroom supplies. This is how she puts it:
My students attend an elementary school in Philadelphia, PA. We are a very structured school, but are unfortunately located in a low-income area, and are known for being in one of the most dangerous parts of the city. Our school was even donned the nickname “Deadly Smedley,” before Mastery took over. Even with those surroundings, our students still come to school every day with smiles on their faces because they know that they are one step closer to going to college. Many of our students have lost parents and siblings due to the crime in the neighborhood, and many have witnessed those happenings themselves. This does not hold our students down. They are always striving to be on the next reading level, or to get a 100% on their Benchmarks. Having Spanish allows our students to “leave” their daily life, and travel to different Spanish-speaking countries to immerse themselves in the language and culture of the people who live in those countries.
Donorschoose.org is the site where you can make a contribution to the cause or just read more about it here.
Mastery Charter School Smedley Showing New Addition
At the August Frankford Civic meeting, one of the items on the agenda was a zoning variance to allow the Mastery Charter School Smedley campus to expand by adding a new gymnasium and four new classrooms. Joe Ferguson, Chief Operating Officer of Mastery Schools and Brian McLaughlin, Principal of Smedley made the presentation to the Civic. The plan is to fill in the area of the building at the rear with the gym on the bottom and to add four new classrooms at the top. The plan also will add an elevator for students with disabilities and air conditioning for the building. Mastery noted when the took over the building that it needed extensive improvements.
The Civic voted unanimously to support the variance.
Brian McLaughlin and Joe Ferguson
Joe Ferguson (Chief Operating Officer, Mastery Charter Schools). On the left is Brian McLaughlin (Principal, Smedley Elementary) Joe Ferguson (Chief Operating Officer, Mastery Charter Schools). On the left is Brian McLaughlin (Principal, Smedley Elementary)
