Category Archives: Queen Village/South Philly

Why I Chose Frankford Friends: 2012-01-01 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? Frankford Friends

Calendar year your child entered 2009

Grade your child entered Pre-k

What neighborhood are you in? South Philly

What schools did you consider? Friends Select, Meredith, The Philadelphia School, Independence Charter

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

What first attracted you to the school? Small size, the welcoming atmosphere, quality of education & affordability

What were the critical factors that led to your choice? Quality of education & affordability

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 Frankford Friends is to our family the perfect school. My son is in a class of 14 students, each recognized and appreciated for their own individuality. This school is more affordable than most private schools and I believe that leads greater diversity as well as more parents that make a conscious sacrifice to send their children here and are very involved in the school. It’s like the little school that could… and does.

Vacation Camp? Seriously?

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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.

The Philadelphia Zoo has “Schools Out” Full Day Camps for kids ages 4-11
The Philly Art Center has “Vacation Camps” at its Fairmount and Queen Village locations
The Schuylkill Center in NW Philly has some interesting looking “Day Off” programs with an environmental focus designed for kids ages 5-12

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…

Chester Arthur and Friends

Why I Chose Meredith Elementary: 2011-09-27 School Selection Report

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This is a snapshot of one parent’s school choice. 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? Meredith School

Calendar year your child entered 2011

Grade your child entered 3/4/2005

What neighborhood are you in? Queen Village

What schools did you consider? Greenfield, McCall, Penn Alexander

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

What first attracted you to the school? Great neighborhood, active HSA, test scores, reputation

What were the critical factors that led to your choice? Friendly environment, very active HSA

Did you relocate in order to choose this school? Yes

On the political spectrum, I consider myself to be liberal

Please share anything else about your experience We moved here from South Carolina for many reasons, however, one of the major reasons was to give our children the benefits of an urban lifestyle without sacrificing education.