Tag Archives: community

Jean Wallace and some Green Woods Students

Green Woods Charter Chestnut Hill Community Meeting

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The following message was sent to us and has been reprinted in its entirety.

Green Woods Charter School is meeting on March 15th at 7:30PM at Chestnut Hill Hospital’s first floor conference room to present our updated building designs to the CHCA-Development Review Committee. For those parents hoping to secure a seat at Green Woods for September 2011 (and beyond) this meeting is an important one to attend. It is our hope that this first official meeting with the greater community will encourage a positive dialogue as we outline both the need for a high-quality charter school in Chestnut Hill and our desire to restore Greylock Manor to become our new home. This meeting is open to the public. Please join us.

Warmest Regards,
Jean Wallace, CEO, Green Woods Charter

You can read more about the proposed move to Greylock Manor on the Green Woods Charter website.

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Why I Chose St. Francis Xavier Catholic School in Philadelphia

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This post is a contribution from our reader community.  Please help others choose the right school by sharing your story.

By Mareese Keane

The primary reason why I choose Catholic school for our daughter was that she was not going to meet the public school age limit for Kindergarten.  We were coming from Canada where the age limit for Kindergarten was 5 by December 31st and we were only moving to Philadelphia for a couple of years so when looking for places to live, I asked in a couple of Catholic schools to see if they would take her, and St Francis Xavier said they were happy to.  This ultimately brought us to live in Fairmount!  I think the Catholic schools have a little more flexibility than the public schools in that regard.  Overall I was very happy with the Catholic school experience (specifically St Frannies) for the following Continue reading →
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Going Local for Education Movement Escalates to…Lawn Signs?

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Last month I wrote about lawn signs that had popped up all over my neighborhood for private schools advertising their open houses.  As I have been following and struggling with our neighborhood “Going Local” movement, the fact that our local public school has gotten into the lawn sign act has been an interesting development.

I contacted a member of the Jenks Home and School Association and this is what I learned about this effort.  It turns out that Continue reading →

No Room for PC in School Choice: Being Honest With Yourself

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I was speaking to an ivy-educated friend (and parent) the other night about Philadelphia elementary school choices.  He halted the conversation when he said (I’m paraphrasing), ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but I essentially am looking at one thing in a school.  How likely is it that my child will be able to get into an ivy or near-ivy level college?’

The politically correct side of me was immediately taken aback.  What about diversity? What about community? What about supporting the local public school effort?  Then I became jealous of his clarity.  His family is fortunate enough to be able to afford private school, but when it comes down to it, so am I, and so are many people that I know, whether we care to admit it.  It is certainly more socially acceptable to downplay our economic status.  Parents spend in the neighborhood of $10K a child per year for day care, it’s not that great a financial leap to most private schools for kindergarten.  Over the last couple of months I am learning about the school choices of many of my friends and casual acquaintances who have children starting this Fall.  These are people who I know share my values.  If you had asked me last year, I would have guessed that they would have chosen a public school.  I have been surprised not only by the number of people who have been choosing private school, but by the fact that they all seem to be choosing one particular private school.  What is that about? Continue reading →

Grassroots Efforts in Philadelphia Creating an “Edutopia”?

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It turns out that I am not alone. You may read this and realize that you, too, are not alone. Edutopia, the website of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, recently published an article on how, in Philadelphia, more and more affluent families are choosing city public schools. The article focuses on Society Hill/McCall and Mount Airy/CW Henry schools, but the movement has been catching on throughout the city in neighborhoods like South and West Philly.  It seems that people in and out of Philadelphia are noticing that more and more Philadelphia parents want their children to be a part of racially and economically diverse public schools even when they can afford private schools.  The challenge with that has traditionally been the quality (actual or perceived) of the public schools.  However, through the efforts of parents in those communities, the schools have Continue reading →