Tag: Education

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Edmunds Elementary to Become String Theory Charter School

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.

 

 

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H.R. Edmunds Elementary School Meeting

Important Changes are Coming to H.R. Edmunds Elementary School.  Starting next fall, Edmunds School will be run by a high performing charter school organization.  You are invited to attend an information session about the changes and how you can help choose which organization will assume leadership of the school.

H.R. Edmunds Information Session
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
1197 Haworth Street
6:00pm – 8:00pm
**** Refreshments and childcare will be provided****

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Frankford High School JROTC News for February 2012

2LT Antonio Torres

Every year the JROTC Committee chooses one cadet from each school to receive the “Good Citizenship Award.” This year from

cadet Anthony Agront and cadet Lea Mull

Frankford High School, Cadet 2LT Antonio Torres was honored to be chosen for this award. Cadet Torres will be invited to the Union League Headquarters in Center City to participate in a workshop, dinner, and a special presentation describing a competition for an exclusive scholarship.

 

 

Every year the mayor of Philadelphia chooses a select number of students from each school to receive the “Most Improved Student” award. Not only did Mayor Nutter select one student from Frankford High School, he selected two! They both belong to the Pioneer Battalion, cadet Anthony Agront and cadet Lea Mull. These two amazing students will be invited to City Hall along with other “Improved” students throughout the city for an exclusive dinner.

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Banners Gracing the Entrance to Harding Middle School Tell Part of the Story!

You get a feeling that good things are happening at Harding Middle School! We went to visit on Friday, 2/24, the day that three banners, now hanging at the main entrance of the school on Torresdale Avenue, were dedicated. ArtsRising is an effort to make quality arts education available for all of our children in the city. When you visit their website, you will see their partners and sponsors. These wonderful programs need funding and our support. Schools can apply to be an “Artzone Hub” and there are site visits, surveys and consideration of other criteria before you are selected. If you would like your school to get involved, you can find out how here. Seven artzones or communities have been identified in the city thus far and Harding Middle School is our “hub” here in Frankford. You can read a profile about Harding here on the ArtsRising website .

These banners are a sight to behold but just as important is what they represent. Principal Michael J. Calderone explained that the banners depict the Arts, Academics and Athletics at Harding. It is by design that the Academics banner hangs in the middle because Academics is at the center, the heart, of all that Hardings’ staff and students are achieving. For the last three years, students have improved their proficiency levels as measured by the state’s PSSA tests. In the spirit of the moment, I am getting ahead of myself here. When you enter Harding Middle School, you are struck by the grandness of the lobby, even after 85 years. This school was built to showcase design and achitecture at the height of our Roaring 20’s! We were immediately greeted warmly by three students, Raina, Johnathan and Joe, who after reminding us that we needed to sign in, would be our escorts to the Independent Media Center. The IMC, which houses the library and a wall of Apple iMAC computers for sutdent use, had a classroom of students waiting expectantly. Due to the weather, the dedication ceremony could not be held outside.

Ambrose Liu, ArtsZone Coordinator, welcomed everyone. The Director of ArtsRising, Varissa Mickens, explained that while 45 students directly participated in the banners we see, they are meant to represent the dreams of all of the students and the community’s dreams for them. In a very visual and vibrant way, these banners express the dreams that Harding Middle School administration, teachers, parents and students are working to bring to life. These dreams go beyond the school walls to the larger Frankford community and beyond as well. Ms. Mickens congratulated the students telling them that they should be proud of their efforts and she thanked Principal Calderone for his belief in the power of arts education and his support of the program.

Mr. Liu explained that the teaching artist, Betsy Casanas, co-founder of Semilla Arts Initiative, partnered with Harding teachers  John Papiano, Technology Teacher, and Jon Tietz, Visual Arts Teacher, and students to design and create these banners. Semilla, meaning “seed”, is how Ms. Casanas describes the way that art “plants” in students a feeling of empowerment, where as young as they might be, they are able to use their “strong and powerful voices today” to impact their communities. Ms. Casanas went on to say that this was just a beginning in future projects with the students that would integrate with their curriculum. Stained Glass depicting events in History and learning about light in Science. If you teach students “how” to do something, they will continue to use this creative power in their lives.

Speaking of student voices, several students from the Def Poets Club shared their works with us. You can see it here for yourself.

State Representative Tony Payton  and Jason Dawkins, a representative from City Councilwoman’s Maria Sanchez-Quinones’ office were in attendance as well. Kimberly Washington, Coordinator of Northeast EPIC Stakeholders, spoke about growing up in the immediate area and that the Northeast EPIC Stakeholders are working to improve the quality of life in Frankford and Northeast Philadelphia. What impressed me, also, is the collaborative effort that went into this initiative. It does take all of us to work together for the good of our young people and the future of our communities! To experience this uplifting moment, you can watch it here. To all who participated and supported this project, you have both our congratulations and thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

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Frankford CDC Day of Career Shadowing with Frankford High Students

This past week, the Frankford CDC had the pleasure of hosting two Frankford High students as part of a job shadowing program being run through the 9th grade academy and the Student Success Center. We tried to give them a taste of the working world as best we could, the fun and the not-so-fun. They helped us fold copies of the February edition of the Frankford Gazette, and also got to head to City Hall with us to attend a press conference with the Mayor.
 
One of our favorite things at the CDC is meeting and becoming friends with Frankford residents of all ages, and we especially love opportunities to engage young folks in our community. We hope the Frankford High students we spent the day with gained more than just a better understanding of the working world and what it means to operate in an office setting; we hope through our conversations with them, and through their excellent questions, they gained a new appreciation for Frankford, and for trying one’s best to do for others and be a constructive and active participant in one’s community. After all, we know that we learned a lot from them.

Our special thanks to Frankford High, and to the students we had the pleasure of spending the day with!