Category Archives: Fairmount

zoo

Vacation Camp? Seriously?

Having had my son in year-round day care prior to starting kindergarten, I was prepared for the fact that we would need to find child care for him during the summer months in the form of one or more camps.  While I haven’t resolved that issue yet, another related issue has reared its ugly head.  What do you do with a kid during their school vacations?  Up until this week, it has been routine. A day for a teacher inservice is easy enough to find coverage or schedule my own work vacations.  Two weeks for winter break, sot so easy.  Timing my work vacations to coincide didn’t cover it all.  I found myself scrambling to figure out what options I had for stimulating activity and child care during this longer break.  I was disappointed in the number of options that I found.  I really only found three programs, though I admit I didn’t really research music or athletic programs.  Here they are, in no particular order.

They all seem great, but I am wondering–what other choices are out there?  Please leave your suggestions in the comments–I want to try to create a larger repository of “vacation camps” for parents to have as a resource.  Bookmark this page–I will link to that repository here when I create it…

all-school heart small

3 Parents Share Why They Chose Greene Street Friends [School Selection Report]

This is a snapshot of three parents’ school choices. You can read other parent testimonials and contribute your own thoughts. Take five minutes to complete an anonymous survey to tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!


Parent #1

What school did you decide on? Greene Street Friends

Calendar year your child entered 2011

Grade your child entered PreK

What neighborhood are you in? Fairmount

What schools did you consider? We considered doing the voluntary transfer for public schools and charters.  We looked at other private schools but found this to be much more affordable.

What factors were most important to you? Tuition, Teaching Philosophy, School Performance (test scores, success of graduates), Teacher Quality, Principal Quality, Diversity

What first attracted you to the school? The size (small) and the fact that it is a Friends school.

What were the critical factors that led to your choice?  When we went to see it and met some of the staff, it seemed to be a very gentle and nurturing environment.  Also, much more affordable as it only goes up $100 each year.

Did you relocate in order to choose this school? No

On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be  Progressive


Parent #2

What school did you decide on? Greene Street Friends

Calendar year your child entered 2011

Grade your child entered kindergarten

What neighborhood are you in? NW Philly

What schools did you consider? Wissahickon Charter, Miquon, Germantown Friends, Perelman, Project Learn, Greenwoods

What factors were most important to you? Tuition, Location, Teaching Philosophy, School Performance (test scores, success of graduates), Teacher Quality, Principal Quality, Diversity

What first attracted you to the school? We heard great feedback from families who went there, plus that they focus on quality education and affordability.

What were the critical factors that led to your choice? Quality education, school values and environment, strong teaching and leadership, relative affordability

Did you relocate in order to choose this school? No

On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be  progressive

Please share anything else about your experience We love the small school experience of Greene Street, the focus on educating the whole person, the excellent sense of community and commitment to diversity and inclusiveness that a relatively low tuition allows.


Parent #3

What school did you decide on? Greene Street Friends

Calendar year your child entered 2011/2012

Grade your child entered K

What neighborhood are you in? NW Philly

What schools did you consider? Henry, Jenks, Greenwoods, Wissahickon Charter, Project Learn, and Perlman JDS

What factors were most important to you? Tuition, Location, Teaching Philosophy, Diversity

What first attracted you to the school? reputation

What were the critical factors that led to your choice? We wanted a school that was local, diverse, and offered a holistic view of child development. Cost was a factor as well.

Did you relocate in order to choose this school? No

On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be  progressive

This is a snapshot of three parents’ school choices. You can read other parent testimonials and contribute your own thoughts. Take five minutes to complete an anonymous survey to tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!

Bache-Martin

Why I Chose Bache Martin: 2011-10-11 School Selection Report

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? Bache Martin

Calendar year your child entered 2011

Grade your child entered Kindergarten

What neighborhood are you in? Fairmount

What schools did you consider? Independence Charter, Wissahickon Charter, Russell Byers, Green Wood Charter.

What factors were most important to you? Tuition, Location, Reputation, Teacher Quality, Diversity, Special Programs (language immersion, music, etc.)

What first attracted you to the school? The involvement of parents and the positive changes that is happening at the school.

What were the critical factors that led to your choice?  The quality of teachers and the fact I am able to walk my child to school and I am able to social with the parents in the neighborhood who are also sending their kids to this school.

Did you relocate in order to choose this school? No

On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be  democrat

Please share anything else about your experience So far we have been very happy with our choice and our daughter looks forward to going to school everyday. Great teachers, great resources, great parents.

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!

usual suspects

Beyond the Usual Suspects II

Way back in the early stages of this blog, I wrote about how in most conversations with Philadelphia parents, the same list of ”hot” public and charter schools is always discussed.  It’s probably not a mystery to you, but the schools I heard about the most were:

Philadelphia Public Schools (alphabetically)Greenfield (Center City) * Henry (Mount Airy) * Houston (Mt. Airy) * Jenks (Chestnut Hill) * McCall (Center City) * Meredith (Queen Village) * Penn Alexander (West Philly)

Charter Schools (alphabetically)Independence Charter (Center City) * Green Woods Charter (Roxborough) * Russell Byers Charter (Center City)

My concern back then (which turned out to be justified) was that with so many people vying for spots in the same trendy schools, the chances of getting into a school via the Voluntary Transfer Program (VTP) within the School District of Philadelphia or selected in a charter lottery is small.  I listed several schools that I thought were worth further consideration that might be off of the radar of most parents.  Here is what I wrote about them:

  • Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures (FACTS) Charter School (Chinatown) This Chinese language immersion elementary school has a diverse student body (70% Asian, 21% African-American) stellar math scores, but pretty low reading scores.  FACTS serves many immigrant students (i.e., non-native English speakers), I presume that the low reading scores are in part the result of that, but I have no evidence to confirm that hypothesis.  I love the idea of a language immersion programs, so this school is particularly attractive to me.
  • Christopher Columbus Charter School (Bella Vista)–They have a nice diversity (35% African American, 51% White) and almost all of their teachers have 5 or more years of teaching experience.  They have a troubling 22:1 student/teacher ratio (as does Independence charter, by the way), however and the parent involvement website hasn’t been updated in almost a year.
  • Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School (South Philadelphia)- It’s hard to argue with their test scores–90% score proficient or higher on math 71% on reading (3rd grade).  Not sure my oldest would be interested in this type of curriculum though.
  • Andrew Jackson Elementary (South Philly) – I wrote about an article showcasing how parental involvement has really boosted this school.  Is it on par with the others?

In over a year since, I have learned about a lot more schools and thought I’d share some additional “unusual suspects”.

What other Philadelphia public and charter schools do you think parents should also be considering?

masterman

Why I Chose Masterman: 2011-04-28 School Selection Report

This is one parent’s opinion on why they chose Masterman. Help other parents–take five minutes to complete an anonymous survey to tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!

Date Submitted: 4/28/2011

What school did you decide on? Masterman

Calendar year your child entered/will enter 2003

Grade your child entered/will enter 5

What neighborhood are you in? Fairmount

What schools did you consider? The Philadelphia School – for Middle School

Friends Select, Central, Science Leadership Academy – for High School

What factors were most important to you? Tuition, Location, Reputation, Public Eduction, School Performance (test scores, success of graduates), Diversity

What first attracted you to the school? The quality of the graduates – the test scores tell the story, as do the colleges they attend.

What were the critical factors that led to your choice? The high caliber of the students and the diversity are what make Masterman special.  Masterman has a reputation with some of being the “public school that is more like a private school” but that is so incorrect.  We have kids from every neighborhood in the city and every income level.  The facilities are not pristine – but there are two critical factors that run true with almost every family.  First, the family values education and invests their energy into the success of their child.  Second, the kids are above average bright.  This combination is powerful.  The kids feed off each other and take great pride in being among the brightest.  Some work very hard for it.  To others it comes easier.  But just walk in the school and you will see every race, color and religion in Philadelphia.  This urban success story is a best practice that should be replicated.

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 Masterman is not right for all kids.  They take about 200 5th graders and keep that class size through 8th grade.  Then you must re-apply to the high school.  Many students choose to leave for other schools.  Those that really love academics want to stay.  The graduating class of about 100 is a close-knit group of eclectic kids from all walks of life, and a true understanding of urban life and and education that works.

This is one parent’s opinion on why they chose Masterman. Help other parents–take five minutes to complete an anonymous survey to tell PSS and our readers about your school choice!