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W. Philly High students want 4 schools
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W. Philly High students want 4 schools
By MENSAH M. DEAN
deanm@phillynews.com 215-854-5949
Saying that they did not want to continue going to a large school that resembles a jail, students from West Philadelphia High yesterday presented city education officials with a plan to transform their school into four smaller, modern campuses.
The design plan, which took more than a year to devise, was facilitated by the design firm Concordia LLC of New Orleans and included the participation of more than 180 students, parents, educators and community representatives.
Raymond Williams, a graduating senior, said a fact-finding trip to South Bronx High School, in New York, overwhelmed him because everyone knew each other and learning was taking place in a small environment without violence, metal detectors and identification cards.
"That's a school that every child wants to go to, and some of us never had the opportunity," he said. "I'm doing this as an unselfish deed to the community," he said of working to build a new West Philly.
David James, an 11th-grader, said West Philly High "feels like a prison. We have to walk through metal detectors, there are bars on the windows."
The plan for a new school, he said, calls for smaller environments where students would get more individual attention, thus fewer "would fall through the cracks."
Tiffany Fogle, a 10th-grader, said a survey of 250 students conducted by the nonprofit Philadelphia Student Union led to a recommendation that the four small schools have these academic themes: business and technology, automotive design, urban students, and creative and performing arts.
Sandra Dungee Glenn, a reform commissioner, said, "I don't think there is anybody who would disagree that a lot of what we have is not what we want... and our children do deserve better."
"The plan is splendid... It certainly is in line with the school district's reform efforts," school district chief executive Paul Vallas said.
Next, a consensus with the community must be reached on where to build the school.
Vallas, and some of those who testified yesterday, said they favored building on the school's athletic field and on an adjacent property. The school could open by 2009, he said.
The plan to replace the 1,070-student school with four smaller schools is in keeping with the district's small-high-school drive.
By 2008, the number of high schools will increase from 39 to nearly 70, and half of those will have fewer than 500 students, down from 1,500, school officials have said.