Philadelphia School District facilities and closings process
From Portland, cues for Philly school-building reuse
AxisPhilly launches Schoolhousewatch.org, hub for ideas and accountability
When another 22 public schools go vacant in June, many of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable neighborhoods are likely to be faced with yet another big empty building – the kind of building…
Public school closures could just be getting started
Is the recent batch of public school closures the first cycle of many to come? Think back to the middle of last year. We expected dozens of schools to be considered…
E.M. Stanton decision brings thank yous all around
By Oscar Wang Celebrations were in order at E.M. Stanton Elementary last Friday morning after the School Reform Commission decided not to close the school. During two special assembly sessions,…
Stanton, Sheppard spared by SRC; eight other schools to close
By Benjamin Herold for the Notebook/NewsWorks The School Reform Commission voted Thursday night to close eight District schools, but spared E.M. Stanton and Isaac Sheppard Elementary Schools.…
Schools threatened with closing reflect a timeline of historic architecture
This report is a product of William Penn Foundation funded reporting partnership between Plan Philly and the Notebook. Since the Philadelphia School District announced in November the possible closings of…
Straight talk to the SRC: Video voices for Sheppard and Stanton
By Dale MezzacappaFor The Notebook and PlanPhillyThursday night bright-shirted supporters of E.M. Stanton (yellow tees) and Sheppard (purple), two of nine schools slated for closing, brought their case to…
A full day of testimony on school closings
by Dale Mezzacappa and Benjamin Herold for the Notebook/NewsWorks [Updated 3/3, 7:53 p.m.] Community responses to the School District's recommendations on school closings got underway Saturday morning, starting with a…
Public meetings on school closings end; SRC to hold hearings March 3
by Dale Mezzacappa on Feb 24 2012 After four months, 21 meetings , and testimony from hundreds of people, the School Reform Commission is getting ready for the last phase of…
SRC suspends Pa. school code on closings. 'Walk-on' resolution approved; vote on closings will be March 29
by Benjamin Herold on Feb 16 2012 Posted in Latest news [Updated 1:30 a.m.] In an unexpected move, the School Reform Commission voted Thursday to approve a previously unannounced "walk-on" resolution…
District sets $6.5 million sale price for old West Philly High building
by Benjamin Heroldfor the Notebook and WHYY/NewsWorks Got $6.5 million and a fondness for Gothic architecture? If so, the School District of Philadelphia wants to talk with you.…
School closings timeline a sticky issue
by Dale Mezzacappa and Oscar Wang School Reform Commission chair Pedro Ramos told community members in South Philadelphia Thursday night that the District is working to make its final school closings…
100 years ago, new schools were built for growing city
This guest blog post comes from Ken Finkel, who compiled some historical photos of the construction of several District schools that are now facing closure. He blogs at The Philly History…
Stanton supporters say school is worth saving
The School District of Philadelphia weighed a lot of factors before settling on the nine schools it proposes closing to eliminate some of the 70,000 empty seats in the city’s public…
Few turn out to protest loss of far-flung school
At the far southwestern edge of Philadelphia, just north of the airport and two blocks away from the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, lies George W. Pepper Middle School.By Philadelphia…
Schools bursting at the seams in the Northeast
For most Philadelphia neighborhoods, plummeting public school enrollment is a fact of life. In Northeast Philadelphia, however, there is a different problem altogether: too many students, and too few seats.Overcrowding…
How the fate of the old West High may be hinged to far West Philly revival
This report is a product of William Penn Foundation funded reporting partnership between Plan Philly and the Notebook. The old West Philadelphia High School at 48th and Walnut is a…
Still full of life, 114-year-old Sheppard School faces its demise
Submitted by Benjamin Herold on Mon, 12/12/2011 - 13:53 Posted in Latest news | Permalink Isaac A. Sheppard Elementary School, now 114 years old, could be living out its final…
District tries out new tone at W. Philly facilities meeting
Again striking a new, more conciliatory tone, senior officials from the School District of Philadelphia last night presented their facilities master plan to an audience of about 100 parents and community…
City Controller calls for action on vacant school buildings owned by the Philadelphia School District.
City Controller Alan Butkovitz today accused the School District of Philadelphia of letting eight shuttered district buildings deteriorate into dangerously unsafe condition, and called the empty facilities “catastrophes waiting to happen.”…
This landing page is the place to keep up with the Philadelphia School District's facilities master planning process. The School District is compiling a comprehensive facilities master plan designed to "right-size" its physical plant. The goal is to maximize educational availability, quality, and equity, which will involve closing, consolidating, and selling schools. Decisions on how to manage this process call for wide community dialogue and close collaboration between the School District and city government. The The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is partnering with PlanPhilly to cover this process and inform and help foster that dialogue. This coverage is supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.
