Special Report: Anatomy of a Turnaround

Charter-run Renaissance schools are one of Philly’s few education success stories. A deep dive inside one attempt to transform a failing school begs the question: Should this be the future of reform?

by Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

The School Reform Commission will vote Wednesday on whether to approve any of the 39 new charter school proposals—a decision sure to be met with hand wringing from one side or the other, no matter the outcome. Meanwhile, the District hasn’t opened any new Renaissance schools since 2013—even though the charter/public hybrid is less expensive than new charters and more successful than failing District schools. The Citizen took a deep look inside one such school, Young Scholars Frederick Douglass.

Read the full story from The Philadelphia Citizen here.