This is a snapshot of one parent’s school choice. You can read other parent testimonials and help other parents. Take five minutes to complete an anonymous survey to tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!
What school did you decide on? Henry Lea School
Calendar year your child entered 2011
Grade your child entered 3
What neighborhood are you in? West Philly
What schools did you consider? Friends Select, Germantown Academy, Charter Schools, Catholic
What factors were most important to you? Tuition, Location, Teaching Philosophy, School Performance (test scores, success of graduates), Teacher Quality, Principal Quality, Diversity, Special Programs (language immersion, music, etc.)
What first attracted you to the school? Diversity, the classroom teacher, the principal, the home and school association, art and science teacher, afterschool activities.
What were the critical factors that led to your choice? Diversity, the classroom teacher, the principal, the home and school association, art and science teacher, afterschool activities, and the bonus – it is within walking distance to school!
Did you relocate in order to choose this school? No
On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be Liberal
Please share anything else about your experience SAVE YOURSELF $24,000 A YEAR and still get your child a quality education. Go visit the Philadelphia public school in your area. You will be pleasantly surprised. I had my son in private school for two years. Lost a job and we took a chance on the public school in the neighborhood. He is doing better than ever! He attends school with kids who are intelligent, kind, interested in learning, and from all over the world. He is learning to play tennis at recess, and we just signed up for a free ice hockey camp sponsored by the school. They have writing workshops sponsored by PENN, and string lessons start this year. The list goes on and on. If there is something you want changed in the school – get involved and change it!
Save yourself from the thoughts of uprooting your family and moving to the suburbs, putting yourself on tons of charter school wait lists, and filling out the financial aid forms every year. Check out your public school!
This is a snapshot of one parent’s school choice. You can read other parent testimonials and help other parents. Take five minutes to complete an anonymous survey to tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!
Did this child enter in 2001 or 2011?
Not every public school is as good as Lea. Its proximity to Penn has alot to do with its success.
This is 2011, because I am a parent of a child there, and I know of these many things that are happening at Lea. I have seen an influx of parents who have had the intelligence to check out the neighborhood school, and found many of the same qualities as the schools which are "known", private, charter, and that special situation school which is subsidized by a local Ivy League university. Is it perfect, absolutely not, but I also participate and have found the administration, teachers, and staff have nothing but open arms to parents who desire to make them better. It is a team approach. Using a metaphor, you can hire a maid or get your hands dirty, it is so much more rewarding to get into the mix and see how great public education can be if parents participate. If Ukie Washington, (journalist), Vincent Hughes, (state senator), and Lorene Cary, (SRC Member), went there, it has to have the ground work to be a pretty good school.
Yes, I can confirm that the 2001 is a typo. The student entered Lea this fall.
While the University of Pennsylvania does not directly, monetarily support Lea, it does have several programs at Lea (socialized recess, afterschool program, professional development etc.). However, for Lea to become a true meeting place for the community, it requires the entire community, not just a single entity, to come together and support the school. That's what makes the new programs at Lea so exciting (Visual Arts program and the gLea club, T.I.M.B.A. and Play On, Philly! afterschool programs).
I should that the next West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools (which focuses on Lea) Playdate/Meeting is this Saturday the 10th at 4:00 p.m. at the University City Arts League (UCAL) at 4226 Spruce Street. Anyone, regardless of parent status or age of children, is welcome!
Many parents only option is the neighborhood school or possibly a charter school and only make $24,000 per year. Friends Select, Germantown Friends and other upscale educational options are off the table. I'm a longtime West Philly resident and a graduate of Hamilton School, a mile away from Lea at 57th & Spruce. I'm no author, state senator or newscaster but I think I've done alright for myself. The diversity, tennis at recess and Penn writing workshops are not the norm for that area. West Philly is much bigger than University City. Consider yourself lucky to be in the serving area for Lea. What are the other schools involved in this coalition?
Penn is involved in a few other West Philly schools to the same extent as Lea… Comegys, Wilson and Sayre to name a few. Parents like the author of this report, Maurice (the Home and School president) and members of the community (who have nothing to do with Penn) have worked hard to advocate for the programs provided at the school. Also, many of the students at Lea are not in the school's catchment, but have transferred in for various reasons. The school is not at capacity, so it has room to grow.
I updated the article to say 2011. The survey submission said 2001
To clarify, the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools is an all-volunteer grassroots group that seeks to bring the community and all of its resources into our neighborhood schools. Our current focus is Lea Elementary but we hope once efforts there are sustained we will be able to expand to other schools in the area. To find out more information about WPCNS and Lea, please visit our website: https://sites.google.com/site/westphillyschools/
Henry Lea is a Horrible school and i'm speaking as a student.The first day I went there all i heard was fighting and cussing, there was so much cusiing at that school I was afraid the younger children would pick it up. Please if I were you I would not go there, for you and your sake.
, for you and your child sake thats what I meant to say.