The School Reform Commission (SRC) announced on Thursday that the Renaissance Turnaround Team from String Theory Charter Schools has been awarded the contract to run H. R. Edmunds
H. R. Edmunds Elementary School
Elementary School effective with the school year beginning in September of 2012.
From their web site the String Theory model:
String Theory Schools’ flagship model school is the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School. When the doors opened in September 2000, it became the only grade school in the state of Pennsylvania to link academic education with the arts. Since then, schools in Chester and Pittsburgh, as well as other states throughout the county, have followed the String Theory Schools’ model.
The SRC followed the recommendations of the School District which says on their press release:
The District recommendations were informed by a turnaround team matching process conducted by School Advisory Councils at each Renaissance School. School Advisory Councils met and reviewed proposals from turnaround teams and visited schools currently managed by the teams. After reviewing the proposals, meeting with the prospective turnaround teams and holding community meetings, the Councils developed match recommendations and delivered them to the District earlier this week.
The District incorporated the findings from the School Advisory Councils into the final recommendations to the School Reform Commission. Renaissance Schools and turnaround teams were matched based upon how the turnaround team’s proposed school design meets the needs of the respective schools.
At the Northwood Civic meeting earlier this week in the discussion among members regarding Edmunds, the opinion of the majority of the members was that any change should be in favor of a better educational result. Members voiced concerns about order and discipline more than anything else. So they will be looking toward improvement in those areas of concern as this process moves forward.
There is no mention in the SRC press release of whether the School District recommendations followed the will of the Edmunds School Advisory Council. So far they have not responded to our inquiry on that issue. If any readers have any insight into that question, please comment.
I am a member of Edmunds’ School Advisory Counsel. The SRC did indeed follow the recommendation of the SAC. In fact, I was impressed that they also respected the request from Creighton Elementary teachers and parents to consider an alternative to the charter turnaround, tabling that issue for further review.
There will be upcoming meetings and community gatherings to discuss the turnaround process. Community involvement is vital to the success of this turnaround. I will contract the Gazette directly to notify you of dates in the future.