87 names in hopper for superintendent job

Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 05/07/2012 - 13:10 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Oscar Wang
 

The committee charged with hiring a new permanent superintendent has 87 names under consideration, the Notebook has learned. Each of them either applied or was nominated by others.

Search committee chair Wendell Pritchett said that the District still hopes to have someone in place by the beginning of the school year.

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Vibrant debate over District blueprint continues

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 14:21 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Oscar Wang
 

Local higher education institutions met Wednesday to discuss the District’s transformation blueprint and what role universities might  play.

The same day, the District hosted the first of five neighborhood-based budget hearings, while community groups continued organizing their own responses to the reorganization plan.

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Knudsen: 'A unique moment'

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 05/01/2012 - 22:08 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

Following is the text of Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen's statement to the School Reform Commission on Tuesday night.

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SRC renews Sankofa and Multi-Cultural with last-minute conditions

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 04/27/2012 - 16:10 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Oscar Wang
 

The School Reform Commission kicked off its new rolling charter renewal process this morning by unanimously granting Sankofa Freedom Academy and Multi-Cultural Academy new five-year charters. 

During the special Friday session, the commission had both schools agree to last-minute conditions before voting on renewal – conditions that could set new precedents for the 20 other Philadelphia charters still waiting for decisions. 

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Save the date: Tuesday, June 12 Turn the Page for Change!

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 04/20/2012 - 14:00 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Jason Lozada, Haverford House fellow
 

On Tuesday, June 12, the Notebook will hold our annual June event called “Turning the Page for Change.” This year we’ve decided to celebrate our Strength in Community – our history of education activism, the city’s best in student journalism, and our growing partnerships throughout our Philadelphia community. 

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SRC votes not to renew three charters

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 15:41 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Oscar Wang

The SRC took a first step tonight to shut down three charter schools: Arise Academy and Hope Charter, both of which have a mission to serve severely at-risk students, and Truebright Science Academy.

As representatives from the three schools made their cases for renewal, the SRC asked tough questions. The answers provided did not persuade the commission to reverse the three non-renewal recommendations made by the District's charter school office.

Commissioner Wendell Pritchett challenged all three charters to clearly outline a plan to turn their schools around. Implementation of good ideas is key to success, he said, not just the ideas themselves.

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Renaissance vote tonight: How the budget figures in

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 14:32 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

NewsWorks and Notebook freelancer Bill Hangley provides important background to today's vote on four new charter conversions: What effect do the District's budget troubles have on turnaround models? Research suggested that the charter school model and the District-run Promise Academy model were equally successful, but Promise Academies were not an option this year.

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School Improvement Grants bring money to schools, for now

Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 13:40 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

This is one of three pieces published as part of a joint effort of Education Week, the Education Writers Association, and The Hechinger Report to report on School Improvement Grants.

by Andrew Brownstein
 

For the casual visitor, it's easy to miss that Southeast High School in rural Kansas—once among the lowest academic performers in the state—is in the midst of a profound transformation.

Like many other Kansas schools, the building in Cherokee (population: 722) shows the telltale signs of a suffering economy. Bus routes have been cut, as have supplies. Custodians, secretaries, and cafeteria workers took an eight-day pay cut. During the harsh winters, students bundle up to make it through classes where the temperature hovers at an uncomfortable but cost-saving 68 degrees.

But look deeper, and another picture emerges.

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No Child Left Behind and parental engagement

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 14:21 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

The Notebook has a content-sharing agreement with Education Week, where this piece originally appeared. Quibila Divine recently wrote a guest blog post for the Notebook about ideas for parental engagement in the Philadelphia schools, and this piece offers a national view.

by Sean Cavanagh

Few would quarrel with the goal of increasing parents' and families' engagement in education in the name of school improvement. But there's far less consensus on what that engagement should look like—and on how educators and policymakers should be promoting it.

Those questions are evident in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires thousands of schools receiving Title I aid to set aside a portion of that money for family-engagement activities. The Obama administration, among others, would like to boost the amount of money devoted to parental outreach in reauthorizing the law, the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

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A community looks back on its efforts to save a neighborhood school

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 04/10/2012 - 18:00 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Oscar Wang
 

The night before a crucial vote to find out whether E.M. Stanton Elementary School would stay open, Vicki Ellis reflected back on the weekend that started a nine-month effort to save the school.

June 25, 2011, was supposed to be a relaxing time for the students and teachers of Stanton. The school year had just ended the week before. Blue skies and 80-degree weather made for perfect days to kick off summer vacation.

But that was the weekend the Notebook published a confidential District document detailing preliminary school closure plans – and Stanton was on the list. That news sparked a campaign by Supporters of Stanton (SOS) of more than 36 straight weeks of meeting and lobbying, praying and mobilizing.

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