Schools in Philly (Dover, Penn: how much, school district, property tax)

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

What is a good school ranking site then?

Actually, the new PA School Performance Profile methodology that just came out over the weekend by the PA DOE would appear to be a significant improvement over prior ratings. It incorporates PSSA/Keystone exam scores, as well as SAT/ACT scores, performance improvement, graduation rate, attendance rate, etc. It also gives credit for advanced performance on standardized tests, rather than just proficient performance.

Appears that data is not yet available for certain schools, but here is the site. I'm sure this will be debated and criticized to death, but appears to be an improvement over what we had before.

Welcome to PA School Performance Profile

[iheartgardening]

I am not sure of a quality school ranking site- since many judge by test scores, and some are more like "yelp"- with reviews & edits from whoever wants to take the time...
But make no mistake, Philly schools are in the toilet, and only getting worse. Arts & music? Forget it- most were cut years ago. Sports? Hahaha, good luck. Nurses? Nope, not really anymore. Most of the parents I know do home schooling or private school, which is almost as much as college tuition (unless you're talking about a Catholic school that isn't much better than the public ones, except they pray). The handful of actually decent schools often have a lottery system, which is so hard to get into that parents actually camp on the streets like we used to do for concert tickets for nights in advance.
I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy having their children attending Philly public schools.

[Benjamin Dover]

dead on, iheart..

[MikeNigh]

Originally Posted by iheartgardening

I am not sure of a quality school ranking site- since many judge by test scores, and some are more like "yelp"- with reviews & edits from whoever wants to take the time...
But make no mistake, Philly schools are in the toilet, and only getting worse. Arts & music? Forget it- most were cut years ago. Sports? Hahaha, good luck. Nurses? Nope, not really anymore. Most of the parents I know do home schooling or private school, which is almost as much as college tuition (unless you're talking about a Catholic school that isn't much better than the public ones, except they pray). The handful of actually decent schools often have a lottery system, which is so hard to get into that parents actually camp on the streets like we used to do for concert tickets for nights in advance.
I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy having their children attending Philly public schools.

Isn't there a good K-8 school or two? Would a good option be to have them there and then do private?

[iheartgardening]

There are a couple- and, like I said, they operate on lottery systems with the open slots. Parents literally camp in the street for the chance to get into the LOTTERY- not even a chance to get their kid into the school.

I hate to be long-winded, but last year, I did a little research project. I found out that I knew three kids of the same age, same grade (age 10-11, grade 4)- one kid is my nephew, who goes to an amazing public school in NJ, one was my neighbor's son- who goes to Catholic school in northeast Philly, and one was my assistant's daughter, who goes to public school in our neighborhood) I asked the parents, at the end of October, what their kid had been working on. My nephew, in NJ had learned expository writing- essays, three page papers, nothing over the top, but where I was at 10. My neighbor's son has spent the MONTH of October learning about the saint he was named after, which culminated in him dressing up as his "saint name" at Halloween, and doing an oral report. Not as good as NJ, but, not too bad. My assistant's daughter (public school Philly) had finally mastered printing, and the class was going to learn cursive after Christmas. This is the best example that I can give as to how tragically terrible the schools are. And that was before the latest round of budget cuts...

If you have your kid in this system until he or she is in 8th grade, they have blown the chance to learn how to learn. In my opinion. It isn't a gamble my husband & I are even considering- even though it means leaving the neighborhood we love, and so many friends, our community gardens, our church. Because we believe schooling our children here is such a bad idea.

Look up the Philly Inquirer's coverage of all of the protests that happened with the latest round of budget cuts. Over the summer.

If you don't mind a cry, look for a girl's speech that she made- it makes me cry every time- she was a student, potentially the first in her family to go to college, and she was in a school who hadn't had guidance counselors in years- she keeps asking, "Who is going to help me with my application process? Who will help me navigate the student aid system?" Her parents & family aren't people who went to college- they can't really help her. It is heart breaking.

There aren't good schools- there are some parents groups in my area (I live in Fishtown) that are trying to work with the system, but honestly, it isn't going anywhere fast- if I had a school aged child, I would already be gone.

The bottom line is, PA is a state that has a governor who slashed school budgets & gave the money to build more prisons. Which, funnily enough, made the remaining schools in Philly that much more like prisons. And that is a shame.

[MikeNigh]

Even penn alexander and william meredith are lottery based?

[iheartgardening]

Penn Alex is in a small section of West Philly- if you're willing to take the risk of living there, you have to be within the boundaries for the school. They may have a lottery system for people who don't live in the district, but because it has a decent (not good- no schools in the city are good, just better) rating. West Philly is a lot like where I live- up & coming, going in the right direction, but still a lot of crime. They teeter between dangerous (dealers on every corner, but you just ignore them) and hazardous (they sometimes shoot each other, right out in the street). But it has a great arts scene, and co-op, street festivals, etc. You take the good with the bad.
William Meredith I haven't heard great things about, but I don't know if it is lottery based. Because of the things I have heard, it isn't a consideration for us.
Hey, I don't want you to think I am starting an argument with you. You asked for info, I am giving it to you.
I don't know where you come from- maybe you come from a place where the schools aren't good. I came from a public school system that was amazing, and had fantastic benefits for the students (since first grade, every school I attended had one computer per child attending, thriving sports & arts programs, opportunity for international travel & broadening experiences). My standard for public schooling is extremely high. Do your research, make your choices. They aren't even close to good enough for my family.
Good luck.

[MikeNigh]

What things have you heard about william meredith?

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Even penn alexander and william meredith are lottery based?

To expound a bit on what iheartgardening said:

Penn Alexander is in University City, the most prosperous section of West Philly and home of three universities: Penn, Drexel and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Penn provides a good portion of the funding for Penn Alexander as an incentive for some of its employees with families to move to its catchment area. I believe some non-Penn people who were priced out of Center City have also moved in since.

It is true that Penn Alexander is one of a handful of K-8 for which parents have to participate in a lottery, literally camping outside the school for a chance. In Penn Alexander's case, there isn't even a guarantee that residents living within the catchment will get in as the number of students apparently now outnumber the available spaces.

Meredith, McCall and Greenfield Elementary Schools are located respectivelyin Queen Village (South Philly), Washington Square West and Rittenhouse Square (both in Center City), two of the more affluent neighborhoods in the city. Parents are definitely actively involved in making sure their children receive a good education. I believe Henry Elementary in middle-class West Mount Airy has also received positive press on the forum as well..

As for the overall quality of Philadelphia schools, long-time members may recall that Central and primarily gifted-populated Masterman High Schools more than hold there own on state rankings that have been posted here. Other magnet high schools do fairly well from what I understand, notwithstanding dwindling resources. Most other neighborhood elementary and high schools were already facing their share of challenges before budget issues hit.

It is great to see that despite the challenges facing the school district that there is some measure of good news. Nonetheless, as I've suggested before, it would take a great deal of proactivity to be make sure one's children are getting the best education available in Philadelphia public schools.

[Benjamin Dover]

no disrespect tone509 but how long have you been living in Northern Va? Do you honestly have a clue about Philly public or are you guessing?

Iherat has right on with her assessment of the public school system. She lives it..