Over the holidays, the Philly Citizen posted a great in-depth feature on Blaine Elementary, a neighborhood school in North Philadelphia. We invested $1.5 million from our Great Schools Fund because we believe in Principal Gianeen Powell’s commitment and ability to ensure that all of Blaine’s students succeed. As the article details, Principal Powell is leading the transformation of …
Blaine Elementary
Philadelphia Citizen: Wonder Woman to the Principal’s Office
Thanks to help from the Philadelphia Schools Partnership, the School District is counting on a dynamo leader to turn around a struggling elementary school. But does the District have enough dynamos to fix all its broken schools? At 6 AM on a recent Tuesday morning—before coffee, before her two kids awoke, before she’d even considered …
School Spotlight: James G. Blaine Academics Plus Elementary School
The process of transformation began almost one year ago for Blaine Academics Plus School, when Principal Gianeen Powell applied for and secured a $1.5 million turnaround grant. Blaine, a District neighborhood school located in North Philadelphia, is a traditionally under-performing school with about 40% of students scoring proficient on the PSSAs. Principal Powell, with the …
Today’s front page news: New plans for 2 troubled schools
Last year, we invested $3 million in two North Philadelphia district schools to dramatically improve student achievement. After months of intensive planning, the talented school leaders at Blaine and Kelley will be granted new autonomy to build their teams. Read today’s WHYY piece about how the leaders will work with great new and returning teachers to …
Philadelphia Inquirer: New money, new plans for 2 troubled Phila. schools
Khyrie Brown stood outside his school and enumerated the things he was going to tell School Reform Commission Chairman Bill Green on a tour of Blaine Elementary on Monday.
The school lacks adequate supplies, said Khyrie, an eighth grader. Its equipment is old, its classes are too big, and it doesn't have enough staff.
WHYY: Two North Philly grade schools to undergo massive staffing changes in hopes of ‘turnaround’
Two elementary schools in North Philadelphia will undergo massive staffing changes before the 2014-15 school year in an attempt to transform school culture and student performance.
Blaine Elementary in Strawberry Mansion and W.D. Kelley Elementary in Brewerytown have been selected for what the Philadelphia School District is calling a "district-led renaissance turnaround."