New School Year, New Beginnings
Over 1,000 Students Will Attend Two New Great Schools
With the support of our donors, PSP provided startup grants to launch two new charter schools—MaST III and Philadelphia Hebrew Public—for the 2019-20 school year, providing 1,056 students the opportunity to receive a great education.
Grant Amount: $500,000
Students Served: 900 students in grades K-5 for the 2019-20 school year, and then expanding each year to serve 1,300 students in grades K-12
Number of Students Seeking the Opportunity: 7,736 students applied for 900 seats
Impact: MaST III will primarily serve students from four of Philadelphia’s highest-need zip codes, allowing hundreds of low-income students to access a great education. The original MaST campus is one of the top-performing schools in the state. MaST II, which received a startup grant from PSP to open its doors for the 2017-18 school year, regularly performs at or above Pennsylvania State Standards.
Grant Amount: $650,000
Students Served: 156 students in K-1 for the 2019-20 school year, and then expanding each year to serve 702 students in grades K-8
Number of Students Seeking the Opportunity: 579 students applied for 156 seats
Impact: Building on the strong academic success of its six New York City campuses, the Hebrew Public charter network will launch its first Philadelphia campus, Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School, becoming only the second new charter provider approved in the city in the last decade.
A Collaborative Effort to Promote Philly
School Networks Launch Joint Advertisement to Attract Teachers
Last year, PSP launched the website TeachPHL.org in collabration with schools across all sectors with the dual aims of attracting great teachers to city schools and supporting educators in their career development. Since its launch in December 2018, over 800 different educator, school leader and support staff positions have been posted on TeachPHL from over 60 schools and school networks. PSP has also been working with representatives from schools to find new, collaborative ways under the TeachPHL brand to market Philadelphia as a teacher-destination city. Furthering this collaborative effort, PSP recently facilitated the creation of a joint advertisement with the School District of Philadelphia, KIPP Philadelphia Schools, Mastery Charter Schools and Teach For America (TFA) Philadelphia, that will be seen by over 70,000 TFA alumni in the magazine, One Day. (See ad below.)
Mark Your Calendars!
The Philly High School Fair is September 20 & 21
GreatPhillySchools, a PSP initiative focused on providing family-friendly information on school quality across all school types in the city, is hosting its annual Philly High School Fair September 20 and 21 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Philly High School Fair is the largest family-centered education event in Philadelphia drawing over 13,000 attendees annually. At the Fair, students and families can meet with representatives from over 100 Philadelphia high schools and have their questions answered in real-time, making it easier to choose the best school for them.
Do you want to help us make this year’s Fair a success? Sign up to volunteer.
