Penn’s partnership with local school leads to new hires, gentrification concerns

Some community members expressed concerns over rising real estate prices

A year after Penn began its investment into Henry C. Lea Elementary School, some West Philadelphia community members expressed concerns over rising real estate prices and spacing, while others applauded the newly hired support staff.

On Jan. 27, 2022, the School District of Philadelphia's Board of Education approved $4.1 million in funding from Penn for the Lea School — a public school at 4700 Locust St. with approximately 500 children in grades pre-kindergarten through eight. A year later, The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke to Lea School parents, its partners at the Graduate School of Education, and the school district to assess the funding’s impact.

Penn has had a relationship with the Lea School since the 1960s, which has included providing teaching support, music education, and counseling services. The partnership with Lea was structured to “emulate the success of the Penn Alexander

Penn announces new director of admissions after three month search

Jordan Pascucci, who has 13 years of experience in Penn Admissions, was selected after a national search

EMILY SCOLNICK Staff Reporter

Reactions to Penn’s investment into Henry C. Lea Elementary School, one year after it began, are mixed among the West Philadelphia community.

school,” board documents stated, prompting concerns regarding how local real estate would be affected.

Penn Alexander — which opened in 2001 — operates as a partnership between Penn, the school district, and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. While Penn Alexander has received national recognition, some professors pointed to its construction as a possible increase for a rise in market prices in University City as observed by the DP. The gentrification has caused the displacement of

Jordan Pascucci will be Penn’s vice dean and director of admissions beginning March 2, according to an announcement that Penn Admissions provided to The Daily Pennsylvanian on Wednesday.

Pascucci was selected following a national search that began when former Vice Dean and Director of Admissions John McLaughlin departed Penn last November to serve as dean of admissions at Hamilton College. Pascucci has worked in Penn Admissions for a total of 13 years during two periods. Leading up to her appointment as vice dean, she served as senior associate dean and deputy director of admissions.

McLaughlin’s departure from Penn in November launched a “national search that yielded an exceptional pool of candidates,” Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule wrote in the announcement. After an extensive search and feedback from interview committees, Pascucci was selected to fill the position.

Pascucci, who received her Master of Liberal Arts from Penn, worked in Penn Admissions from some low-income residents and people of color.

Philip Gentry, a Lea School parent and member of the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, said that he has seen some signs of potential gentrification occurring as a result of the funding granted to the Lea School.

“Housing prices seem to be going up in the neighborhood; almost every listing now brags about the fact that the local neighborhood school is subsidized by Penn,” Gentry said.

At the Lea School, Penn's funding has provided resources for the school to hire additional staff, according to Caroline Watts, the director of school and community engagement at GSE.

2007 to 2016 before working in private schools in the Philadelphia suburbs. She served as director of institutional research and co-director of college counseling at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pa. She later served as director of enrollment management and strategic initiatives at the George School in Newtown, Pa.

She returned to Penn Admissions in 2020 as associate dean of evaluation and selection. During this time, Soule wrote that “she encountered and managed one of the most complicated admission selection experiences — ever — in the midst of the pandemic,” including remote work amid a 30% growth in the applicant pool.

The announcement comes two years after Penn appointed Soule, the former senior vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Bowdoin College, as vice provost and dean of admissions.

“We are thrilled to have Jordan in the role of Vice Dean, Director of Admissions,” Soule wrote in the announcement.

Penn's funding is valued at $816,500 per academic year for the next five years, and there are limitations to how the funding can be allocated. According to Watts, the funding can be used for “improving instruction, improving climate, and developing staff.”

Monique Braxton, a spokesperson for the school district, wrote that the funding has been used to hire new support staff and create new roles that “have been critical to [the] success and functioning as a school.”

While the funding has increased the Lea School’s capacity to staff teachers and other support staff, some parents said that the school continues to face challenges with spacing and overcrowding.

"Our principal has been begging the school district for temporary classrooms or any kind of space, and we have not been given that," Gentry said. "It is deeply, deeply overcrowded.”

Braxton wrote in a written statement to the DP that the school district has put in a request to add a “little school house” to the Lea building.

Despite community concerns, the school district pointed out its planning process and engagement with stakeholders.

“It was very important for us to make sure that the vision for this partnership was a collective one shared between the school and community,” Braxton wrote. “To that end, we have engaged in a rigorous school planning process that includes representatives from all of our stakeholder groups.”

The GSE also said that it worked with the community to obtain feedback from the start.

“We feel confident that not only did the community have an opportunity to be heard, but that their knowledge, concerns, and goals have been — and will continue to be — woven into the plans for the school in coming years," Watts wrote to the DP.

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