Parents sharing the process of searching for a school in Greater Philadelphia. What kind of school are you looking for? Charter, public, private, city, suburban?
Date Submitted: 4/4/2010
What school did you decide on? Independence Charter School
Calendar year your child entered/will enter 2008
Grade your child entered/will enter Kindergarten
What neighborhood are you in? East Falls
What schools did you consider? All public and charter schools – Mifflin, Henry, Dobson, Cook-Wissahickon, Wissahickon Charter School, McCall, Meredith & Greenfield.
What factors were most important to you? Location, Reputation, Teaching Philosophy, Public Eduction, Teacher Quality, Principal Quality, Diversity, Special Programs (language immersion, music, etc.)
What first attracted you to the school? Excellent customer service, Center City location (more schools should open in Center City to serve working parents), great academics and the Spanish Immersion program.
Did you relocate in order to choose this school? No
On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be Right-wing liberal
Please share anything else about your experience There are many excellent public school options in the City, but the only way you’ll learn about them is to visit them and talk to teachers, students, and parents. The good public schools need to do absolutely no marketing or public relations, so you’re not going to learn about how great Dobson is (in Manayunk) by reading a slick website or glossy marketing piece. For those lucky enough to get into ICS (as we did), it’s an absolutely fantastic school and the only thing bad about it is there’s nothing wrong with it so I don’t have anything to complain about (just kidding). ICS is amazing…if every school in Philadelphia were like it, people would move to Philadelphia from all over the world because of our public schools.
Tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!
Len Lipkin
PSS Community