Author Archives: Marta Rowh

About Marta Rowh

Marta and her husband grew up in rural areas of Ohio and New York respectively. Both in the the medical field, they now live in Philly raising 2 boys. Their quest for quality education began when their oldest was only 3 years old and it’s been a wild roller coaster ever since.

Types of Philadelphia Elementary Schools

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We may remember a time when kids just went to their neighborhood school. But this isn’t Kansas anymore. There are lots of options and lots of different application processes for parents nowadays. We started school hunting at the dining room table and finally I threw my hands up…what are ALL the options?! Every time I thought I knew it all, another school popped up! I wanted to have all my options before deciding which schools to look at and which open houses to attend, so here is a brief Elementary School Options 101.

Public Schools

Neighborhood Public School: There is a school for every neighborhood in Philly. Maps of the catchment areas can be found on our map page and through the city by address.
Out-of-Catchment Neighborhood Public School: There are 174 public elementary schools. There may be great public schools that are not in your district. You can apply for admission to these schools through the School District of Philadelphia’s VTP (volunteer transfer) website. If you choose this path, be sure to read our “Primer on School Transfers” article.
Charter Schools: There are 59 elementary charter school options (you can find a list on the Philadelphia School District’s website), each with strengths, weaknesses and performance numbers. Charter schools are public schools that admit students by completely random lottery, Waiting for Superman style. The application processes vary somewhat by school, so make sure to contact any school you’re interested in. If you are considering this option, be sure to read our article, “What is a Charter School Anyway” and download the charter directory.

Private Schools

Religiously Affiliated: There are a variety of religious-based elementary school options – if there are more that are not included here, please let me know! There are 25 Christian elementary schools. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has 187 Catholic elementary schools. There are six Jewish Day Schools. There are two Muslim schools including Islamic Day School of Philadelphia and Al-Aqsa Islamic Academy.
Friends Schools: Though there are private Quaker or “Friends” schools all over the country, there is a uniquely heavy concentration of them in Philadelphia. I didn’t include these in the religiously affiliated because over 95% of the students who attend these schools are not Quaker, but they do have a Quaker philosophy and usually require students to attend “Meeting for Worship”. Adherence to “strict Quakerism” (which many would consider to be an oxymoron) varies from school to school. Wikipedia has an exhaustive list of Friends schools throughout the world. Many are listed under the high schools. Be sure to read our article “The Friends School Mystique” and check out the Friends Council on Education website if you are considering this path. Take note–not all Quaker-affiliated schools have ‘Friends” in the name. Penn Charter (a private Quaker school, not a charter school) and the Westtown School are two examples.
Private: This is where I get lost. These schools pride themselves on being different – unique educational theories, opportunities and communities. Finding a comprehensive list of these schools is difficult and often overlapping with the groups above – here is list from the Independent School Consortium of Greater Philadelphia and you can search the directory of the National Association of Independent Schools by metropolitan area. I am always finding new schools in this category: they tend to be smaller and heavily rely on community. Some examples not included elsewhere are: Miquon, Project Learn, Waldorf, but there are many, many others!

Did I leave anything out?

Getting Started Series: The Parent Talk

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Someday you’ll have to have “the talk” with your kids. You know, ‘the birds and the bees’ discussion. Finding a school can lead to the same type of avoidance. My husband and I didn’t have “the talk” about our elementary school choice until we were already more than a little panicked. Before the process snowballs out of control take the time to discuss what you (and your co-parent) want — before you go to all the open houses and read all the brochures and talk to all the neighbors and…

What are you looking for in a school? Take a moment to write a list of what you’re looking for in a school. Ask your partner (if you’re co-parenting) to do the same. If you’re having trouble making a list, just describe what you see in your mind’s eye.

Each of us has preconceived ideas about what our child’s future school will look like. If you’re going through this process with a partner it’s important to see if your ideas match theirs. One friend I have went to a private high school, whereas her husband went to a large public school. This had never, ever been an issue in their marriage. After each school they didn’t seem to see the same strengths and weaknesses and finally realized that she preferred schools similar to what she experienced (small and private) and he preferred schools similar to his experience (large and public). Had they sat down early in the process for “the talk” they could have seen each other’s perspective and skipped a lot of incredulous disagreement.

Make a list of “needs” and “wants”. Once you sit down with general ideas, start to list specifics. People do this when buying a house. Needs: 3 bedrooms and eat-in kitchen. Wants: fireplace, yard, parking spot. Again, find out if these match between you and your partner.

It took us a long time to make a list. When I finally sat down and Continue reading →

When to Start the School Search

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We all know kids start kindergarten at age 5. So choosing a school should happen the year before kindergarten…right? Unfortunately the ‘when to start’ question is complicated and depends a lot on your risk tolerance. Here are some different scenarios:

If you are planning to attend your neighborhood public school, then there are no requirements or paperwork to fill out before your child is 4 years old. The only complication in this situation is that some parents take advantage of pre-K programs at their local elementary school, such as “Bright Futures.”

One parent whose children attended the Bright Futures program at Bache-Martin told me: “The Bright Futures program gave us the opportunity to connect with other parents and really invest in our neighborhood. We learned a lot about the school before we had to make our kindergarten decision. Bright Futures is separate from Bache, but it gives you a head start on understanding the school.”

Applications for private school start the fall before your child would enroll – a full year before kindergarten. What complicates the private school option is that Continue reading →

Coming Soon to Philly School Search

Everyone gets on the waitlist: ICS #2