Mifflin School Holiday Concert

Principal Schmitt has invited the broader East Falls community to the 32nd annual Mifflin School holiday concert. All are welcome! Come out and see the audible results of Mifflin's excellent music program. The concert is Thursday, December 21st at 9:30 AM in the auditorium of the Mifflin School.

Lankenau High in Roxborough to become the "Masterman of the Northwest"

District to expand school choice in Northwest

Area students would have three more options, including
a new magnet high school modeled on Center City's Masterman

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK
Chestnut Hill Local

The Philadelphia School District unveiled an ambitious school choice plan last week to expand its current high school roster from 38 to 66, adding 28 college-preparatory options by 2008.

Focused on small enrollments, the "Small Schools Transition Project" would create nine new magnet high schools, including two in Northwest Philadelphia. The district currently operates 12 prestigious magnets, whose students are drawn from a select pool based on academic performance, attendance and other criteria. Each has a unique program focus.

Lankenau Motivation High School in Upper Roxborough, formerly a satellite branch of Germantown High School, would be modeled after Center City's Julia R. Masterman High School, which claims some of the highest standardized test scorers in the state. With Lankenau in its first year as an independent school, the transition to magnet status is expected by 2008. Also, the school is scheduled for $12 million in renovations, including an overhaul of its main building and the construction of an addition.

Most Masterman students are considered mentally gifted, and the school reports that 100 percent of its senior class attends college.

Parkway Northwest High School, currently operating on the New Covenant campus in Mt. Airy, would operate as a "Peace Academy." Partnering with Arcadia University, the school would teach leadership through conflict resolution. The idea was spurred by the creation of the district's first military school, the Philadelphia Military Academy in West Oak Lane, which welcomed more than 150 freshman cadets last fall. The "Peace Academy" is slated for magnet status this year, said district spokesman Joe Lyons.

Both Lankenau and the Peace Academy are labeled "small," which means they are among 34 high schools projected to enroll about 400 students by 2008. According to district estimates, 15 high schools would have populations of about 800 with the remainder educating more than 1,000.

Under the small schools plan, area students could also apply for admission to the New Media Technology Charter School. Still searching for a permanent location, the school currently operates at 7800 Ogontz Ave. in West Oak Lane. In compliance with its charter, which the district approved this school year, the school must draw its students from Northwest Philadelphia. According to Lyons, the district expects enrollment to reach 600 in five years.

"The reality is there's a lot of parents who will not send their kids to Germantown [High School] and they're looking for alternatives," said Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive, in a phone interview last Wednesday. "We're not just creating options for those parents, we're creating options for all parents ... The key is expanded school choice."

Vallas insisted the district was not turning its back on Germantown High School, citing recent partnerships with both the city's police and fire departments in developing youth programs. Vallas vowed to expand the school's gifted programs, and said district officials are debating the possibility of a magnet program within Germantown.

Currently, 76 students from the 19118 ZIP code attend 15 Philadelphia public high schools, with Central and Masterman -- both magnets -- claiming nearly half the group.

Only two attend Germantown High School, which logged a 14.9 percent dropout rate in the 2002-2003 school year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The School Reform Commission was scheduled to vote this week on a $1.65 million plan to hire four outside educational firms -- ResulTech, SchoolWorks, Princeton Review and Kaplan -- to manage the transition of 11 high schools.

The district also plans to boost its middle-grade preparatory programs in elementary schools, Vallas said, in order to increase students' chances of admission to the highly selective magnets.

Three area elementary schools -- John S. Jenks, Henry H. Houston and Charles W. Henry -- will see extended-day gifted programs next year and extended-day summer school this year, Vallas said.

"If we're going to expand the number of high-caliber programs in high schools, we need to put the prep programs in the elementary schools to prepare the kids," he said.

Future district budgets, Vallas said, would show additional investments in gifted, accelerated and enrichment programs.

According to current district enrollment records, nearly 26 percent (131) of Jenks students (508 total) reside in the 19118 ZIP code. An additional 47 live within the 19119 ZIP code.

Ribbon Cutting at the Mifflin School

Come and see East Fall's beautiful "new" school. There's going to be a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of Mifflin's multi-million dollar refurbishment project on the 12th of December at 10:00 AM. A new gym, renovated class rooms, and much, much more.

Open House at the Mifflin School in East Falls - Wednesday, November 8th

There's going to be an open house at the Mifflin School on Wednesday, November 8th.

9:30 am - 10 am - "Coffee with the Principal"
10:00 am - 11:00 am – Tour of the Mifflin School

Please RSVP to the Mifflin School at (215) 951-4007 or the East Falls School Committee at efschoolcommittee@mac.com

Mifflin Back to School Night

Back to School Night at the Mifflin School in East Falls is this Thursday - September 28th - from 5:30-7:30.

Bright Futures Slots Still Available!

The Mifflin School in East Falls still has six slots open in its full-day Bright Futures progam; this is a preschool program that is academically rigorous, taught by certified teachers, and modeled on Head Start. The curriculum is directly aligned with the school district and Pennsylvania state standards.

The Bright Futures program is free and priority admission is given to all East Falls residents regardless of income. Priority will also be given to four-year-old students (your child must be four by September 1) but is also open to three-year-old children. If you are not an East Falls resident but are interested in applying for the program at Mifflin, fill out the registration form and write on the top that you would like to be considered for Mifflin's program.

For more information, please pick up a packet at the School District's Headquarters at 440 North Broad Street or call (215) 400-4270. Please note that registration is organized by the School District of Philadelphia's Office of Early Childhood Education and therefore not administered through Mifflin. If you have any additional questions, please contact me at friedman19129@mac.com.

Mifflin School Open House - May 10th

If you're considering public school options, please come to the Mifflin School open house on May 10th to learn more about the high-quality public education at the Mifflin School.

What's happening at the Mifflin School?

* An energetic and visionary new principal
* $8 million refurbishment project
* Rising and competitive test scores
* Working towards International Baccalaureate accreditation
* The new Bright Futures program for all 3 and 4-year-old children
* A vibrant music program and after-school offerings
* A low teacher to student ratio
* Highly qualified and certified teaching staff
* Placement of students to District magnet schools

Open House Details

May 10th at the Mifflin School in East Falls - 3624 Conrad Street
9:00 am - 9:30 am - "Coffee with the Principal"
9:30 am - 10:00 am – Tour of the Mifflin School

Please RSVP to the Mifflin School at (215) 951-4007 or the East Falls School Committee at efschoolcommittee@mac.com

Mifflin School Opens its Doors to the Bright Futures Program Once Again

Following its inaugural Bright Futures program this year, the Mifflin School is opening registration for prekindergarten children on Thursday, May 4 from 9-2 pm at the Leeds Middle School (100 East Mount Pleasant Avenue).

The Mifflin School has been selected once again to offer a new full-day Philadelphia School District preschool program that is academically rigorous, taught by certified teachers, and modeled on Head Start. The curriculum is directly aligned with the school district and the Pennsylvania state standards. "The program has given my daughter the language, reading and math skills that she will need for kindergarten. My husband and I are very pleased with the program," shares parent Jennifer Cleghorn.

The Bright Futures program is free and priority admission is given to all East Falls residents regardless of income. Priority will also be given to four-year-old students (your child must be four by September 1) but is also open to three-year-old children. If you are not an East Falls resident but are interested in applying for the program at Mifflin, fill out the registration form and write on the top that you would like to be considered for Mifflin's program.

Registration is on a first-come-first-serve basis. The School District of Philadelphia urges parents to come early on May 4 due to the overwhelming response from parents for the current program. Any three-year-old children who are currently enrolled in the Bright Futures program do not need to reapply.

For more information, please pick up a packet in the Mifflin school office or call (215) 400-4270. Please note that registration is organized by the School District of Philadelphia's Office of Early Childhood Education and therefore will not be held at Mifflin.

Regional Preference Policy Article in the Public School Notebook

Families in Center City Region gain priority in applying to schools within region next year.

Transfers within regions get preference, new policy says

By Paul Socolar

A controversial new policy on student transfers adopted by the School Reform Commission may make it easier next year for families in the District’s Center City Region to gain admission to any of the elementary schools in the region. A 3-2 SRC vote in February gave priority to pupil transfer requests that are within a region over transfers from outside. The vote left advocates for educational equity troubled that the District has not adequately addressed questions about who might lose access to Center City schools and whether the policy is fair to all regions. Center City has been the focus of discussion about the new transfer policy. The regional preference policy, as written, applies districtwide, but District officials say it will be implemented first in the Center City Region. It was strongly advocated by the Center City District, a community development corporation that was also influential in the District’s decision to create a Center City Region. In Philadelphia, students within a neighborhood school’s immediate catchment area are always guaranteed a seat. Under the old admissions policies, transfer applicants from the rest of the city competed on an equal footing for any remaining seats – normally through a lottery – no matter how far away they might live. The new policy states that the remaining seats at a school will go first to student transfers under the No Child Left Behind law’s school choice provisions. NCLB allows students to transfer out of certain schools that have been identified as needing improvement or persistently dangerous. Next in line for transfer slots are students transferring from other schools within the same region. Any remaining slots at schools will be open to students transferring from outside the region. Under School District desegregation guidelines, transfers are limited when they harm a school’s racial balance. In voting against the regional choice resolution, Commissioner Sandra Dungee Glenn argued that the District should first address the factors that are causing families from some regions to flock to other regions like Center City. Dungee Glenn said that until there is greater equity in educational quality among regions, it is unfair to narrow the options of families that feel they cannot find a good school option close to home. “We have some real disparities. There are many more of what I as a parent would consider good choices in some of our regions than in others,” Dungee Glenn explained. Len Rieser, co-director of the Education Law Center, who testified on the policy to the School Reform Commission, commented, “If we’re going to move to a system of regional choice, we need to look closely at the extent to which the regions offer equitable opportunities across the city, and that has not been done.” “No data was shared publicly until two days before the policy was adopted, and the data that was shared didn’t begin to address the issues this policy poses,” Rieser added. Defending the new transfer policy, CEO Paul Vallas pointed out that the Center City Region’s boundaries are broad and the population reflects that of the District as a whole. He cited a number of steps the District has taken to equalize resources between regions, including mandating extended day, accelerated and gifted programs in every school. He pointed to his administration’s commitment to providing quality options in every neighborhood by “mandating that each region have anywhere from three to six accelerated academies.” But a District chart on its “accelerated academies” – new magnet programs for K-8 students that are now being planned in over 40 schools – provided support for Dungee Glenn’s argument. While still more accelerated academies are to be identified, only one school has been identified for an academy in the Central Region in North Philadelphia, whereas the Center City Region has eight schools already named as accelerated academy sites. Dungee Glenn is pushing to amend the new transfer policy to couple it with a new commitment to equalization among the regions. The new transfer policy does not affect any students who are already enrolled, and sibling preference will continue to be offered in the transfer process. But some predict a significant change in enrollment at a few Center City elementary schools that now attract large numbers of transfer applications from across the city. At Greenfield School on 22nd and Chestnut, two-thirds of the students transfer in from other regions. At Meredith on 5th and Fitzwater, 47% of students are from outside the region. The Center City Region is the region with the highest overall percentage of K-8 students coming from outside it. District data show that 1,621 students in the Center City Region – more than one-third of its K-8 students – have transferred in from other regions. The data indicate that many of these students are transferring in from schools that have been chronically low-performing. Less than a tenth of the K-8 students in the region are transfers from elsewhere within the region. At the February 8 SRC meeting, proponents offered a variety of arguments for giving families within a region preference in transfers over those coming from outside:

• The president of the Center City District, Paul Levy, stressed the importance to Philadelphia’s viability of keeping the booming population of young professionals in Center City. He pointed to research projecting a 43 percent increase in the number of school-age children in Center City and predicted that with this new transfer policy providing a greater array of public school choices within Center City, “we’ll have a dramatic increase in parents who are choosing public schools.”

• Jeff Friedman, co-chair of the East Falls Schools Committee, suggested that the regional choice approach could provide a basis for building stronger school-community partnerships in every region. “Proximity between families, students and their schools fosters a sense of community and mutual accountability that is diminished if not eviscerated if students travel long distances to schools that their families never get to,” he noted. Friedman said that a model of structured partnerships involving businesses, communities and schools was emerging in Center City that should be replicated as part of a regional choice program in each region.

• Three McCall parents said that Center City preference would boost parental involvement at their Society Hill school. “We need parents that will show up to plant flowers, to control the chaotic playground and the newly erected jungle gym, to discuss how McCall will make AYP this year and every year after,” said parent Mary Jo Cannon. “We are convinced that if more local parents had a better chance of sending their children to McCall, the numbers of involved families would increase.” The neighborhood choice policy applies only to grades K-8, but CEO Vallas says he would support 25 percent regional set-asides at some of the District’s new high schools, though not at established special admissions schools such as Central and Masterman. “The regions want local set-asides, even for some of their new high schools,” Vallas stated. The Center City Region will see three new high schools with high-profile partners opening in the fall: one in partnership with the Franklin Institute, one with the National Constitution Center, and one (the Academy at Palumbo) with Central High School.

Contact editor Paul Socolar at 215-951-0330 x107 or pauls@thenotebook.org

www.thenotebook.org/editions/2006/spring/transfers04.htm

Mifflin's Capital Project Advances

The $8 million dollar capital project is in full swing; a new gym is being built and numerous other interior improvements are being made. Exciting times in East Falls as the new Mifflin takes shape.

Regional Choice Policy Approved by SRC

The School Reform Commission ("SRC") has approved a significant change to school entrance policy. Traditionally, children within the immediate catchment area of a school have received priority and thereafter, any available openings allocated on a Citywide basis. The new policy reaffirms the right of parents to send their children to their neighborhood school if they live within the catchment area, but now gives second priority to families living within a newly created "Center City Academic Region". The new Center City academic region includes all downtown neighborhoods, plus several adjacent communities in North and South Philadelphia. The new policy, promoted by the Center City District as part of the Center City Schools Initiative, will take effect immediately and will be implemented in all other academic regions in the City. The goal of this new policy is to strengthen neighborhood schools by enhancing the bonds between community and school, to improve educational choices for all families, and to encourage more middle-class families to use and support Philadelphia’s public schools.

The East Falls School Committee believes this important systemic change should be embraced and the District should establish a policy that provides families with access to quality schools for their children that are as close to their communities as possible. There are a variety of reasons why this is a good policy, including the fact that proximity between families, students, and their schools fosters a sense of partnership and mutual accountability that is diminished if not eviscerated when students travel long distances to schools that their families never visit. When children are sent to remote communities that are logistically difficult to reach, participation in scholastic and civic life is difficult if not impossible due to the distance between home and school. Not to mention, the District incurs significant annual expenditures moving children to schools beyond their communities.

Kindergarten at the Mifflin School in East Falls

An Open House for Prospective Parents on February 15th from 9:30 to 10:30.

If you're considering public school options, please come to the Mifflin School open house on February 15th to learn more about the high-quality kindergarten at the Mifflin School.

What's happening at the Mifflin School?

* An energetic and visionary new principal
* $8 million refurbishment project
* Rising and competitive test scores
* Working towards International Baccalaureate accreditation
* The new Bright Futures program for all 3 and 4-year-old children
* A vibrant music program and after-school offerings
* A low teacher to student ratio
* Highly qualified and certified teaching staff
* Placement of students to District magnet schools such as Masterman and Central
* An involved and supportive East Falls community

Open House Details

February 15th at the Mifflin School in East Falls - 3624 Conrad Street
9:30 am - 10:30 am - Visitation with the Kindergarten Class

For more information, please call the Mifflin School at (215) 951-4007 or contact the East Falls School Committee at efschoolcommittee@mac.com

Mifflin Science Fair

The Mifflin School Science Fair is a rolling visitation/voting.

All boards will be placed in the front hallway of the School's entrance on Conrad Street.

Guests are welcome to stop by and cast their votes between 9:30-11:30 on February 8, 9, 10.

February East Falls School Committee Meeting

The East Falls School Committee's next meeting is on Wednesday, February 1st at 7:00 PM at the Presbyterian Church at the corner of Vaux and Midvale Streets in East Falls. Many things going on, all good. In particular, International Baccalaureate program implementation. For more info, please e-mail efschoolcommittee@mac.com

Mark Alan Hughes | BETTER SCHOOLS: THE REAL-ESTATE CONNECTION

NO ONE moves to Philadelphia these days for our public education, and so we rarely think about the connection between houses and schools.

The suburbs are all about that connection. Middle-class suburbanites seek the best schools they can afford when buying a house. Meanwhile growing city neighborhoods occupy niches defined by the absence of schoolchildren: young professionals, empty-nesters, affluent families using private schools.

Under these conditions, an urban school district becomes a mission impossible: neglected by all but those who need it desperately. With the leadership of Paul Vallas and his team, we're now making the very best of a bad situation.

But without further change, the district can never be much more than just a better-run social-service system for children of last resort. To become a system of public education that serves families with alternatives as well as families with none, the district must reestablish the connection between schools and houses.

Parents make education decisions for their children by choosing specific schools, not whole districts. The tool that makes this work is the catchment area, a bounded area served by the school.

Until very recently, there was only one K-8 school that had a readily available catchment-area map: the Sadie Alexander School being co-sponsored by Penn in West Philadelphia. The school reestablished the connection between school quality and housing values in one neighborhood: prices in the catchment area have skyrocketed.

Catchment areas, because they create winners and losers, also create profound political problems. Penn endured those problems because it puts $1,000 a child into the school. For obvious financial reasons, there had to be a limit to that liability, and the catchment area functions as an honest accounting device.

Families make similar investments in schools: they volunteer, help govern, provide financial and in-kind assistance. Just like Penn, they need a way to limit their liability. Involved parents can do miraculous things to help other people's children at a single school, but there's a limit beyond that.

Without the political power of an institution like Penn, however, it's impossible to enforce devices like catchment areas that limit liability. I've heard horror stories about false addresses used to get ineligible kids into Center City's Greenfield School. Parents who try to enforce the catchment area are called racist.

Penn was, too, but it had the poise to endure and establish a fabulous school that is, in fact, predominantly African-American. Individual parents are more likely to give up and leave. The Center City District has a map showing the catchment areas for elementary schools in the new Center City Academic Region at www.centercityschools.com/enrollment.htm. Otherwise, such information, so basic to the choices normal families make everywhere but Philadelphia, is shockingly hard to come by.

My brother and sister-in-law have four young children and are considering a move to Philadelphia. They love diverse Mount Airy and hear great things about the Northwest Academic Region's leadership and the principal of the Henry School. But I can't find the catchment area of the Henry School in any public source, and I'm a decent researcher. Everyone says the same thing: contact the school or the district.

That's fine for some small town, but I think senior administrators have better things to do than confirm whether some house on Allens Lane goes to Henry or Houston.

If we're serious, we should make it easy to determine what school goes with any house in Philadelphia. Or is the truth we don't care whether people move here for public education?

Mark Alan Hughes is the Robert A. Fox Leadership Fellow at Penn.
http://www.mahughes.org/showarticles.cfm?artid=207

The Mifflin School Capital Program: Milestones and Time Line

Phase I: (Ongoing - Completion target: 4/06)
* Includes the demolition of the existing library and the initiation of the construction of a new 7,000 square foot gymnasium with a connecting link in the existing school yard area
* Site drainage and new electrical service feeds.
* Existing infrastructure service work including electrical service upgrades.
* Two new kindergarten rooms are being created in the old gymnasium.

Phase II: (Start: 4/06 - Completion target: 7/06)
* Demolition of existing boilers and furnishing and installation of new.
* Window replacement in the existing addition.
* Glazing replacement in original building.
* Upgrades to existing classrooms and corridors throughout the entire building.
* Continued upgrades to mechanical and electrical services throughout.
* Continued construction of the new gymnasium.

Phase IIIA: (Start: 6/06 – Completion target: 7/06)
* Abatement of the entire attic area above the second floor.

Phase IIIB: (Start: 7/06 – Completion target: 10/06)
* Renovation of second floor classrooms including new science lab, computer lab and a new library.
* Continued upgrade of mechanical, electrical and sprinkler systems throughout and final installation of new boilers.
* Renovation of the existing Clock Tower.

Phase IV: (Start: 10/06 – Completion Target: 1/07)
* Completion of addition.
* Completion of all building finishes.
* Completion of all data services.
* Completion of all punch list items.
* Project Commissioning.

Phase V: (Start: Spring 07 – Completion target: Summer 07)
* Campus Park Initiative