K Through What?

I am having trouble getting my head around the organizational breakdown of elementary schools in the School District of Philadelphia.  Some are K-5, others K-8.  For students who go to a K-5 school, are they expected to go to a private school, a “Special Admission” a.k.a. ‘magnet’ school like Masterman (starts at grade 5), or transfer to an elementary school that offers up to 8th grade?  At the elementary schools that go to grade 8, will there be a noticeable drop-off in educational quality after grade 5 because the best kids go elsewhere?

This whole line of questioning regarding the Philadelphia School District inevitably leads to questions about high schools, because unlike most suburban districts and many private schools where the elementary to high school path is prescribed, the various city high school educational paths require a whole new set of choices that have to be made.  What is the difference between a “Special Admission” high school (like Masterman) and a “Citywide Admission” high school like Constitution or Swenson (both start at grade 9)?  If, like me, you are new to the different types of schools in Philly, here’s some information about the different types of Philadelphia high schools from the source.

Types of High Schools
The School District of Philadelphia has three types of high schools: special admission high schools, citywide admission high schools, and neighborhood high schools. All eighth grade students must fill out a high school application for up to five (5) schools or programs of any type in any combination.

Students complete the application by checking off that they plan to attend their neighborhood/ feeder high school or by listing school/program name and code number in order of preference from 1 (first choice) to 5 (fifth choice). Students who are not accepted to their chosen schools or programs will be eligible to attend their neighborhood high schools.

Students with disabilities and English Language Learners are encouraged to apply to special admission and citywide admission high schools. Admission criteria may be waived for those students who, given accommodations, may be successful in requested schools, as determined by the appropriate school teams.
Neighborhood High Schools
These thirty-two (32) high schools have open admission to students who attend a grade eight school that is within the feeder pattern. Students from outside of the feeder pattern may apply. However, admission is based upon space availability and selection is made by computerized lottery.
Citywide Admission High Schools
These twelve (12) high schools have admissions criteria. Students citywide may apply. Generally, in order to be eligible for the lottery, they must meet three of four criteria: grades of A, B, or C on the most recent final report card; no more than 10 absences, no more than 5 latenesses; no negative disciplinary reports on the most recent final report card. Students may have to attend an on-site interview. Exceptions are Constitution High School, PMA Elverson, PMA Leeds and High School of the Future.
Special Admission High Schools
These nineteen (19) high schools are “magnet schools,” each with its own set of admissions criteria related to attendance, punctuality, behavior, grades, and standardized test scores. Students citywide may apply to these special admission high schools. However, it is strongly recommended that you review the set of admissions criteria and your own scholastic record prior to applying.

Lots of open questions still.  If I had found answers to all of my questions, this post would have required 10,000 words.  Definitely more on this topic in the weeks and months to come.

What The Heck is a Charter School Anyway?

So far my research has been all public versus private.  But there is a third option.  While technically public, Philadelphia Charter Schools are a bit of a different animal.  Philadelphia has 71 charter schools.  According to the charter school website,

Charter Schools are independently operated PUBLIC schools that are funded with federal, state and local tax dollars.  These schools are established to provide families with more educational alternatives for their children. Charters are non-profit, non sectarian, organizations that are approved by the local Board of Education   (the “authorizer”) or the State Appeal Board. Each charter has its own Board of Trustees and administrative staff and operates as a separate, independent  local educational agency (LEA) within Intermediate Unit 26 (IU 26).  The Pennsylvania Charter School Law – Act 22 of 1997 – set up charters to operate free of many of the local and state requirements that apply to traditional public schools.

It is my understanding that all charter schools base their enrollment on a lottery system, with some schools giving preference to siblings in the same school.  I sampled a couple of schools websites, choosing from the Philadelphia Charter School Directory.  The schedule at Independence Charter is an application is made available in September, must be completed by November, and admissions are made in December for the following fall.  Discovery Charter has an October-March timeline for the following fall.

I like the idea of charter schools because of the inherent diversity, which my family values.  However, as kids could attend a charter from all over the city, our other strong value of community may suffer.  Presumably, the most compelling reason to go the charter route would be educational quality, though that may vary.  Many of the charters have specialties (especially in the upper grades), so quality of core curricular subjects may vary especially.  This will be a core of my research as I look into charter schools.

I am learning that when it comes to Philadelphia schools, it is hard to have your cake and eat it too.

Choice Criteria: Community

It is important to us that our kids be part of a larger community.  We feel that part of growing and learning involves as much what goes on outside of school as it does in the classroom.  For that reason, we prefer city living for the cultural activities that it offers.   We are not ruling out suburban communities, but we will probably avoid the more far flung ones.

Another community consideration is the location of the students in the school that we choose.  In today’s hectic world, the time we have to dedicate to playdates and other community functions is limited.  If my kids’ friends are spread out all over the region, we are simply less likely to engage in activities with his friends.  This will result in a preference towards public schools in most cases, because the students will be geographically centered.  However, I suspect that there are a number of private schools that tend to draw their students from the surrounding community instead of the broader Philadelphia region.

Choice Criteria: Diversity

One thing that is important to my wife and I is that our child be in a school that values diversity. To us, that means a balance of race, religion, and socioeconomic status. In general, this points towards public school, but not necessarily. If we send our son to our local public elementary school, Jenks, he may likely be the only Jewish child in his class, or only one of a small cohort.  Of course, if we send him to a private Jewish Day School, he may be the only REFORM Jewish kid in his class, so that may be even less desirable. The Friends School system values diversity on paper, but I need to learn more.  I would be surprised if there was a broad socioeconomic diversity at Friends.  One of the things we’ll be looking at when evaluating schools will be the race breakdown–that information is easy to find. Religious and socioeconomic breakdown will be harder to come by, so we will have to make inferences and assumptions based on the neighborhood and what we observe on school visits.

The information expressed in this post about the schools are assumptions only for illustrative purposes.  I still have to back it up with hard data and research.