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School District honors outstanding teachers and administrators

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 06/06/2013 - 15:25 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Sonia Giebel

The School District of Philadelphia presented Susan Lee, an 11th-grade math teacher at the Academy of Palumbo, with the Teacher of the Year award on Wednesday night. Lee, in her fourth year at Palumbo, beat out 12 other nominees from around the District and will receive $2,500.

"I owe everything to my students and my colleagues,” Lee said. She also stressed the support she’s received from her principal, Dr. Adrienne Wallace-Chew, whom she describes as her “No. 1 fan from day one.”

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UNITE HERE rally emphasizes student safety staff and fresh meals

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 06/06/2013 - 15:18 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Sonia Giebel

Days after the School Reform Commission approved its “doomsday” budget, about 150 people conducted a noisy protest Wednesday outside District headquarters against two of the budget's consequences: the removal of noontime aides from lunchrooms and less fresh food for students.

The UNITE HERE rally brought together the aides -- also called student safety staff -- who monitor trouble-prone hallways and lunchrooms, with students, teachers, cafeteria workers, and others. They chanted slogans like “break bread, not schools” and banged pots and pans.

“What parent wants their kid eating on a dirty table ... or coming home with a busted nose?” said Migdalia Lopez, a noontime aide at Bodine High School. The cafeteria will not be a safe environment, she said.

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Philadelphia Young Playwrights celebrates 25th anniversary

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Thu, 06/06/2013 - 12:03 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

“It’s not about the play. It’s about what happens to you when you write the play.”

Thelma Reese, then a teacher and educational psychologist, said she eventually had this “aha moment” about the inspiration of her friend Adele Magner that students — no matter how young, how poor, how jaded, how troubled, how bored — could transform their lives by writing plays.

Magner’s vision blossomed, with the help of Reese and others, when she founded Philadelphia Young Playwrights, which celebrated its 25th anniversary Tuesday night. Throughout its existence, the program has reached about 40,000 students, not to mention their teachers, teaching artists, and parents.

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Why I'll be there June 11, standing up for Philly's schools

Submitted by thenotebook on Wed, 06/05/2013 - 16:58 | Permalink

by Katey McGrath

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is a catalyst for change, an advocate for equity and excellence, and an information source and forum for the supporters of public schools in Philadelphia. As a member of the Notebook’s board of directors and a parent of students in Philadelphia’s public schools, I am proud to be a part of the Notebook’s work. I invite you to show your support for the Notebook by coming out to the Turning the Page for Change annual celebration on June 11.

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Diverse group of Pa. schools joins Philly in call for more state money

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 06/04/2013 - 16:46 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks

A group of unlikely allies descended upon Harrisburg on Tuesday to lobby for additional school funding.

Pennsylvania charter school leaders, as well as local officials from Republican-controlled counties, joined Philadelphia in the call for more state aid for basic education.

"This isn't a Republican or Democrat issue," said Ronald Williams, a GOP member of the Pottstown school board in Montgomery County. "This is an issue that has to do with the future of our children."

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Roxborough High's principal Stephen Brandt will step down in July

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 06/04/2013 - 16:14 | Permalink

by Aaron Moselle for NewsWorks

Stephen Brandt, Roxborough High School's beloved, award-winning principal, is stepping down after more than four years on the job.

The Roxborough High alum is leaving to lead Bensalem High School in Bucks County. His tenure at Roxborough began in March 2009.

"It was a very difficult decision and it's still a bittersweet moment in my life," Brandt told NewsWorks on Tuesday morning.

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School leaders say Oakland's community school movement will continue

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 06/04/2013 - 13:06 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

This story is part of a multi-city partnership reporting on issues surrounding expanded learning time.

ExpandedLearningTimeFinal Thumbby Michelle Maitre for EdSource

When Tony Smith became Oakland, Calif., schools superintendent four years ago, he vaulted the struggling district into the national spotlight with his vision of creating a “community school district” that would vastly expand the role of schools in the lives of their students and the community as a whole.

Instead of just focusing on what goes on in the classroom, Smith argued, the schools should focus on serving the “whole child” by partnering with community organizations to offer a range of enrichment, health, social and other services for children and their families.

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Pa. state senator hopeful about more money for Philly schools

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 06/04/2013 - 10:08 | Permalink

by Tom MacDonald for NewsWorks

One state senator is optimistic that the Philadelphia schools will not have to open this fall with just the bare essentials. A lot will depend on whether new dollars flow from Harrisburg.

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams says he's not sure how the money will be found for Philadelphia schools, but he knows other districts are also in need of funding from Harrisburg.

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Noontime aides, who help keep schools safe, face elimination

Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Mon, 06/03/2013 - 16:53 Posted in Commentary | Permalink

​One of the more stressful jobs I've had over my two decades of teaching middle school was running a lunch room with upwards of 300 rambunctious adolescents. They were determined to make the most of the one time during the school day that they were out of the classroom. 

It was a challenge to keep peace and good order. I had to make sure students got their food, could visit the bathroom, and didn’t escape into the halls or the uninhabited regions of our old building. I depended on a group of noontime aides (who now call themselves student safety staff) to help police the perimeters, identify problems, and mediate conflicts.

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Former charter assistant principal has his licenses suspended for cheating

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Fri, 05/31/2013 - 16:03 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

Another Philadelphia administrator has been disciplined for his role in Pennsylvania's widespread cheating scandal on state standardized tests.

Thomas Conway, a former assistant principal at Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter High School, has had his credentials suspended, according to the State Department of Education's website. Cited as the grounds for discipline: "Allegations that Educator violated the integrity and security of the statewide assessment by failing to follow proper procedures related to the handling and storage of secure documents, and by reviewing the assessment for purposes of creating an answer key."

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Eric Joselyn, artist/cartoonist and activist, will receive award Saturday

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/31/2013 - 15:49 Posted in Events | Permalink

Teacher, artist, and Notebook cartoonist Eric Joselyn will be honored by the Philadelphia Folklore Project for his artistic contributions to social justice at a "Birthday Bash" event to be held at the Painted Bride Art Center Saturday night.

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