Spring Break
Drexel and Penn look to open West Philly high schools
Cameron Birch
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
In an effort to improve education standards in the area, Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania are in talks to begin managing two University City District high schools.
The main goal the project will be to foster learning and encourage local students to seek degrees beyond the high school level, according to University City school district spokesperson Felecia Ward.
According to James Lytle, former University City high school principal and Penn Graduate School of Education professor, the Penn initiative is aimed to start in September 2008, and Drexel involvement will begin in September 2009. Ward places the start date at September 2009 for both projects.
"The collective hope is that these small, theme-oriented high schools will be highly effective in terms of keeping students in school through graduation and helping them develop college and career aspirations." said Lytle in a an email.
Until the current buildings are renovated, the 500 students that will attend each school will be relocated to another high school. Each grade will then be introduced to the new university-run facility over the course of four years to acclimate the students and adapt the new curriculum, according to Ward.
The project, which Ward has been in talks for 12 years, is finally reaching serious talks with the community and other school officials. While still in the negotiation stages, the University of Pennsylvania is seeking to create a partially public, partially specialized school of focused learning.
According to Ward, past and current plans led to the creation of a school that specializes in international business and similar topics, as well as a separate school for engineering and technology education.
This, however, is not to the liking of all the community. Ward discussed how many people in the area are expressing concern that the schools do not lose focus with the project; many want the universities to open students up to new fields as well as still provide a solid liberal arts education.
The main goal the project will be to foster learning and encourage local students to seek degrees beyond the high school level, according to University City school district spokesperson Felecia Ward.
According to James Lytle, former University City high school principal and Penn Graduate School of Education professor, the Penn initiative is aimed to start in September 2008, and Drexel involvement will begin in September 2009. Ward places the start date at September 2009 for both projects.
"The collective hope is that these small, theme-oriented high schools will be highly effective in terms of keeping students in school through graduation and helping them develop college and career aspirations." said Lytle in a an email.
Until the current buildings are renovated, the 500 students that will attend each school will be relocated to another high school. Each grade will then be introduced to the new university-run facility over the course of four years to acclimate the students and adapt the new curriculum, according to Ward.
The project, which Ward has been in talks for 12 years, is finally reaching serious talks with the community and other school officials. While still in the negotiation stages, the University of Pennsylvania is seeking to create a partially public, partially specialized school of focused learning.
According to Ward, past and current plans led to the creation of a school that specializes in international business and similar topics, as well as a separate school for engineering and technology education.
This, however, is not to the liking of all the community. Ward discussed how many people in the area are expressing concern that the schools do not lose focus with the project; many want the universities to open students up to new fields as well as still provide a solid liberal arts education.
Be the first to comment on this story