by Kevin McCorry, WHYY/Newsworks In the face of its continuing budget crisis, the Philadelphia school district continues to show a willingness to invest in new options for its students. Carver High School of Engineering and Science, a STEM-minded magnet school in North Philadelphia, plans to add seventh and eighth grades at the beginning of next …
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Progress in the face of obstacles
Despite the enormous challenges of a budget crisis that can feel all-consuming, many transformative school leaders and teachers find a way to enable their kids to succeed. Yesterday, 498 seniors from five high schools announced their post-graduation plans at Mastery Charter School’s second annual College Signing Day. Graduates will enroll in 98 institutes of higher …
New investments in district, charter and private schools
Yesterday, we announced that our Great Schools Fund is investing $2.6 million to create more than 850 new seats in innovative, high-quality district, charter and Catholic schools. Read more about it in today’s Inquirer and on WHYY. The grants will fuel the startup of a new innovative district high school, the expansion of a high-performing …
WHYY/Newsworks: Philadelphia School Partnership gives $2 million to new public high school
By Kevin McCorry The Philadelphia School Partnership announced Tuesday that it will donate $2.6 million in grant funding in the hopes of aiding the creation of 850 new seats in what it deems high-performing district, charter and Catholic-run schools. Building 21, a new district-run high school opening in the Fall, will receive the majority of …
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."
Nonprofit directing $3 million to two schools in North Philly
A local nonprofit group is investing $3 million to help two Philadelphia public schools. The money is designed to help in a turnaround of the educational institutions.
The grants will be for the Kelley and Blaine Elementary schools in North Philadelphia, which are both facing a 50 percent increase in enrollment due to nearby closing schools. Mark Gleason, executive director of the Philadelphia School Partnership, which is supplying the funding, says the investment comes because the two schools have good leadership.
WHYY: Should merit matter in deciding which Philly teachers to lay off?
Jacqueline Bershad loved everything about the way her son's second grade teacher ran her classroom at Greenfield Elementary School in Center City Philadelphia.
She was "exactly what you would hope for in a teacher," Bershad said — warm, yet firm, giving kids just the right mix of academic rigor and fun.
WHYY: Down to the wire on schools funding, nonprofit pushes a labor proposal
As the state legislature approaches a critical deadline with little progress toward a funding solution for Philadelphia schools, a local nonprofit is shopping legislation linking any extra state funding to work-rules changes for public school teachers.
WHYY: Gates gives Philly schools $2.5 million to work together
Philadelphia's traditional public schools, charters and Catholic schools historically have been rivals.
Now they are receiving $2.5 million over the next three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to foster greater collaboration.
WHYY: Grant to fund public school growth in Powelton Village
The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) made its first grant to a traditional public school Monday, giving a team of partners $215,000 to map out a dramatic transformation of the neighborhood schools in West Philadelphia's Powelton Village neighborhood.