Philadelphia Schools

Sadness in Sad Places: Hope in New One’s

Photography by Temple University Fall 2016 Photojournalism Student Words by Temple University Fall 2016 Photojournalism Student Š Copyright 2016 Temple University Fall 2016 Photojournalism Student All right reserved. No part of this Publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means - by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without prior written permission.

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Education

Sadness in Sad Places: Hope in New One’s

Photo and Text by Michelle Naef

Sadness in Sad Places: Hope in New One’s

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Photo Michelle Naef

otter Thomas Promise Academy located on 3,000 6th Street, Philadelphia, is a great school always willing to do their best for their students.

According to their website, their mission includes, “to provide a highly effective educational program that informs, inspires, liberates and empowers and empowers students to seize academic, emotional and social success to positively impact

hiladelphia is filled with many children with the need and desire to learn. But as many schools are closing down and students are being forced to pack together like sardines into existing schools, how is it helping their desire and need to learn? The reality is that it is not. Education is what makes the future generations grow. And since it is being pulled away by many in a first world country, many ask: how can that be?

not only their future, but also the future of their families and community. It is our desire to strategically position ALL of our students on their individual paths of purpose and destiny. “ The beautiful murals painted throughout the school show the diversity in what they bring.

They hope for a better tomorrow by giving their children the right thing to do.

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airhill School, located on 601 W Somerset Street in Philadelphia, closed down in 2013. Students from Fairhill had to locate to two other schools: one of them being Potter Thomas Promise Academy right down the street from Fairhill. One of the main reasons for this school to close was because of education cost, and downsizing would be the better option. It was one of twenty-three schools to close down in 2013. Fairhill mainly educated Kindergarten through

eighth grade. According to Philadelphianeighborhoods.com, two teachers had fallen in love at this school and were going to get married back in 2013. Today, it just sits as a vacant building that is boarded up for no one to get near but many still hang around outside. There are pictures on the walls that indicate the sense of sadness as to ask the question, “Why?� As heartbreaking as this is, there needs to be some change for the betterment of our future as a country. And it starts with education.

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artram High School is a Philadelphia school in Southwest Philadelphia. It was originally founded in 1939 to address the overcrowding in West Philadelphia High School at the time. The school was designed to hold just under 2,800 students however the school is estimated to frequently have held over 3,200 students. This prompted the Philadelphia School District to open the Bertram High School Annex. Bartram and its annex have always had a reputation for being rough schools within the

district and even in recent years have received media attention on the student’s behavioral problems.

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s attendance and funding for the school district fell the Annex was no longer needed, or financially viable to keep open and was closed. It was one of the few schools in the district to be located within a housing project, standing next to the once over populated Pepper Middle School which is now closed as well.

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enjamin Franklin Highschool located on the corner of Spring Garden St. and Broad St. The school is connected to the School District building. Benjamin Franklin High serves the communities just north of Center City, north of Spring Garden St. and south of Poplar St. The school began to become run down with violent behavioral issues in the 1980’s the matter was only made

worse by the district’s cutting of the budget. In 2007 the school received major renovations including an addition and a new ventilation system to replace the outdated system. The school still has many of the same issues it has always had with recent media coverage of the discharge of a firearm after a physical dispute within the school.

Photo and Text by Connor Gray

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ccording to CBS Philly, there were four separate relocation options (West Philadelphia High School, High School of the Future, Sayre High School, and Overbrook High School) for the school’s 637 students.

One of those schools was the William Sayre High School in West Philadelphia. Sayre has its roots in the “future Creative Thinkers of America,” according to the school’s website, with the motto, “keep thinking.” William Sayre High School has multiple basketball courts and a grass playing field in the back of the school beside

its parking lot. A colorful mural depicting historical faces of the area adorns one side of the building. The mural has “Sayre” on the left side, and decorative writing of “Celebrate West Philadelphia” on the right.

William Sayre now has 511 students in the aftermath of the 2013 shutdowns, but was not necessarily the first choice for relocated students. The two schools are 2.7 miles apart, which takes about 20 min. on public transportation.

These schools represent two of many schools impacted by the Philadelphia School District’s lack of funding and 2013 School Reform Commission’s ruling.

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niversity City High School, located on Filbert Street next to the campuses of Drexel University

and the University of Pennsylvania, closed as part of the 2013 Philadelphia 23-school shutdown by the School Reform Commission.

Founded in 1972, the school was a result of a ‘60s renewal project and started with large capacity goals according to westphilly.com. Over time the school struggled to keep up with the Philadelphia school district required test scores and became a Promise Academy in the 2009-2010 school year. The land was bought by Drexel University.

Originally, in conjunction with its partner, Wexford, Drexel announced that the plot would be used to build a new public school, a seemingly hopeful prospect amidst the sorrow in the community surrounding the closing to the high school as well as the Charles Drew Elementary School which was located on the same site. Philly.com reported that Drexel had announced a multi-purpose building including “housing, stores, labs, offices, parking and maybe a public school.”

Currently, the plot where University City High School once stood, is now a fenced in construction area, with the site already flattened and evened.

On the outskirts of one side, tall Drexel University buildings cover the skyline. On another, residential buildings line the horizon. Now, as the demolition nears completion the plan is for a K-8 STEM school to be constructed on the site by the University City District.

Photo and Text by Geneva Hefferman

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hiladelphia has struggled with public education funding , causing many schools to close down. There are currently twenty three closed schools in the Philadelphia area. Many of these closed schools are historical buildings that are not being put to use.

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Most of these buildings are heavily alarmed yet no one has put any interest in repurposing them.

Schools like Robert Vaux high school are in poor and underfunded neighborhoods which take the urgency and attention away from restoring the buildings.

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obert Vaux High School is a historical building built in 1936-1938. The building is located in North Philadelphia.

The building was designed by Irwin T. Catharine and is a four story “U�-shaped building.

The building was named for American jurist, abolitionist, and philanthropist Robert Vaux (1786-1836). It was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1988. The school was closed down in 2013 as a part of the 23 schools that closed. Enrolled students were filtered to Strawberry Mansion High School and Benjamin Franklin High School.

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hiladelphia Military Academy at Elverson is an active school next to Temple University’s campus. the school opened in 2004-2005 with one hundred and fifty seven ninth grade cadets.

The academy is a special admission school, so it is not

technically a public school.

The mission of the school is to prepare kids for college and teach discipline, this is why they do not accept just any student.

Students are required to use military ettiquette and wear uniforms every day. The program is a junior ROTC program, a growing trend in Philadelphia and other cities.

Photo and Text by Hannah Pittel

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Photo and text by Connor Rottmund

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he Paul L. Dunbar School was built between 1931 and 1932 and named after the African American poet and author of the same name. The school is located in North Philadelphia, next to Temple University’s campus.

was the chief architect of the Philadelphia public school system through the 1920s and 30s.

In 1986 the school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

There are currently over 200 The building was designed by students enrolled at the Paul Irwin T. Catharine. Catharine L. Dunbar School.

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eorge Pepper Middle School opened in 1976 and is located in South Philadelphia.

The school was named in honor of George Wharton Pepper, a U.S. senator who was born in Philadelphia. Pepper was also a prominent lawyer who founded

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he school that at one time provided an education to over 1,000 students, permanently shut its doors in June 2013 after a vote was carried out by the School District of Philadelphia. In its final year of operation the school had an enrollment of

the Pepper Hamilton law firm, which still operates today.

Located on acres of open green space and sports fields not far from the airport, the hulking, grey concrete structure accommodated students from grades five through eight.

only 400 students. The former school now sits in a dilapidated state as the grounds around it continued to be cared for by the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department. No decision has been made as to whether the property will be sold or repurposed.

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he Edward W. Bok Technical High School use to be a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, designed

by Irwin Catharine and named after Edward William Bok.

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The building was completed in February 1938 by the Public Works Administration (WPA) as a vocational high school at 8th & Mifflin Streets. Bok was reorganized in 20062007 to prepare students for jobs in modern technology. After the 2012-2013 school year, the shutdown.

“Bok is a commercial property located in South Philadelphia (equidistant between Center City, the Navy Yard and University City) and home to a thriving and growing community of innovators, businesses, entrepreneurs and creatives,” according to their official websites.

“A historic vocational school closed by the School District of Philadelphia in 2013, we are working to lovingly

restore the building into a new, richly layered and constantly evolving center for creatives, smallbusinesses, nonprofits, small-batch manufacturers and beyond.”

“The project takes stock of the existing infrastructure (wood shops, culinary training kitchens, science labs and classrooms) to enable activity and affordability to create a revived place of making, training, learning and job creation in South Philly, “mentioned in its official website.

Northeast High School is a high school located at 1601 Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Northeast is one of the oldest high schools in Philadelphia, founded in 1890 as the Northeast Manual Training School.

According to the school District of Philadelphia, “Northeast High School seeks to empower students to embrace learning as a lifelong process.” Furthermore, they strive to foster in students to have respect for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, or sexual orientation.

“For this is the very essence of learning in a global community. We strive to prepare our students to be contributing members of our 21st century high-tech society, as said in their official site for the school district of Philadelphia. “Our ultimate goal is for our students to become empathetic leaders within their families, communities, and world.”

photo and text by Michelle Severino

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n a pleasant, sunny September afternoon in the northwest Philadelphia neighborhood of Roxborough, the school day ends as normally and busily as it would in any other town in America.

Hundreds of students exit the building of Roxborough High School, happy to be getting out of the school and ready to go out and enjoy their afternoons.

The majority of the kids not staying after hours for

extracurricular activities or any other reason mount an armada of buses, some traditional yellow school buses and others large SEPTA public buses.

Roxborough High, located in the heart of its namesake neighborhood along Ridge Avenue, draws students from all over the Philadelphia area.

This is perhaps in part to the school’s successful academic record, and it could also

be contributed to by the financial crisis the School District of Philadelphia is currently facing.

Philadelphia schools and budget restraints is nothing new, as the district has had a history of overcrowding and a lack of sufficient funds to support its students.

According to their website, the school district supports over 130,000 students over 131,000 of which are in grades kindergarten through 12.

It appears as though that many of Roxborough High School’s students travel from other parts of the city to attend classes there.

This could be evidenced by the variety of transport that the exiting students were seen boarding on their way home from school.

There are currently 218 elementary, middle and high schools in the SDP and of that 53 are high schools. Due to the budget crisis in the last 10 years, the SDP has been forced to close down dozens of schools.

Students have often been displaced, put in recently built schools or simply folded into the student bodies of other schools already open.

Despite the problems faced by the school district, Roxborough High School seems to be moving along in terms of educating its students and honoring the district’s vision by providing “for all children, a great school, close to where they live”.

Well, maybe not necessarily the last part.

Photo and Text by Thomas Rudisill

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Though harles Carroll High School is students tried to keep the school located in the Port Richmond open, they ended up not having any luck with the matter. The section of Philadelphia, PA. The school closed in 2013 as part of school does not look dilapidated the many shut-downs within from the outside, but it does have district related schools. The 2013 for sale signs plastered on a few shutdown was the largest mass walls. closing of schools in Philadelphia.

Right before the school’s shutdown, the school became publicized for a controversy regarding a teacher criticizing a student’s Mitt Romney T-shirt.

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ensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts is located off of Front Street in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, just steps away from the Berks stop on the MarketFrankford Line. The school is highly advanced, providing a beautiful facility with plenty of land, despite the populated urban area which it resides

The school features multiple different murals, some of which are commissioned by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

Photo and Text by Kevin Barr

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fter a slew of schools were closed throughout the Philadelphia School District, it begs the question of where these students who are being displaced are going. The Strawberry Mansion Middle and High Schools. The school is now overflowing with students after students from Thomas FitzSimons High School and The Young Women’s Leadership School at Rhodes High School were transferred there after they were shut down. This has caused the violence to skyrocket on campus.

Furthermore, according to statistics regarding the recent

graduating classes, only about 50% of the students are furthering their education after graduating.

Two students who asked to remain anonymous were sitting outside of the school after cheerleading practice and describe what it’s like going to school there. “The rumors about violence here are true,” they both agreed. “We try to steer clear of it though.”

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n the other hand, there is Anna B. Pratt Elementary School, which was closed down in 2013. Despite the fact that the elementary school had the state average 15 students to every teacher, it raises the question of why schools like Strawberry Mansion are still available and open to students even with the high rates of violence and low rates of educational successes.

possibilities across many fronts to provide for students’ uninterrupted education. We will also provide financial planning information to employees in the near future. We will continue to This massive shut down of public schools communicate with you in the weeks in Philadelphia is not only disrupting ahead,” he wrote. the educational flow and success for the students, but it is also putting a strain A clear picture of the future for grade on the schools that have remained open. school students in the district remains to Regardless, the superintendent of the be seen. district, William Hite, stated in a letter to district employees last year that the schools were trying their best to keep the schools open in 2015 despite budget problems. he students who were attending this school at the time of its closing were sent to the Richard R. Wright School and the William Dick School.

“The prospect of running out of operating funds is dire. We are exploring all options for contingency planning with our lenders and considering Photo and text by Montana Bassett

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eneral John F. Reynolds was a Civil War general in the Army of the Potomac. He met his fate in 1963 at the Battle of Gettysburg. A Philadelphia school named in his honor at 2300 Jefferson Street met its own fate in 2013.

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The school was designed by Irwin Catharine and built from 1925-1926. In 1988 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. When it was registered it was noted to be in excellent condition and recently received a

structural addition.

The school was part of the 2013 education cuts made by the School Reform Commission, claiming a total of 23 schools. At the time of its closing it had a student enrollment of 400. These students were sent to either Robert Morris School or the William D. Kelley STEM Academy, both located in Brewerytown.

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he Kensington High School for Creative and Performing Arts opened in 2011. It caters to students seeking to become involved in artistic fields such as film and graphic design. Students who do not live in its district may apply for admission which has a 19% acceptance rate.

In the 2015-2016 academic year the school boasted a student body of 501 students. There was the greatest number of students enrolled in 9th grade and progressively decreased up to 12th grade. Its location along

the elevated Market Frankford line makes it ideal for any students or faculty who must commute to the school each day.

Photo and text by Austin Albright

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