Parents promote public schools through "realtor tour"
The future of public education is bright to the Friends of Adaire, Brown, Hackett, Kearny, and Moffet Schools, who have joined forces to promote their local public schools to families new to the Riverwards neighborhoods. The members of these “Friends Of” groups organized a Riverwards Public Elementary School Realtor Tour in October 2016 to showcase the strength of the programs, staff, and students at neighborhood public schools and encourage realtors to talk up the schools to prospective homebuyers.
For young families looking to move into a new neighborhood, the quality of the neighborhood public school could be a make-or-break deal: some families may only be able to afford a home in the hip Riverwards area, which includes Fishtown and Northern Liberties, on the condition that their children attend public school; some families may prefer that their children attend a school within walking distance of their home rather than travel across the city to a private or charter school; and some families may be committed to sending their children to public school on ethical grounds.
Whatever the reason, as more and more families choose to stay in the city, the issue of finding a good school has become a more important selling point for realtors, especially as the narrative of public education in Philadelphia changes. While upper-middle class, highly educated, and oftentimes white families previously moved to the suburbs to escape the “dreaded” public school system and high costs of private schools in the city, in recent years these trends seem to be reversing, and these same demographic groups are now wanting to stay in the city and send their children to neighborhood public schools.
The Friends Of members who led the Realtor Tour certainly emphasized the new, positive narrative of the Philadelphia School District through their Riverwards Tour. The tour started at H. A. Brown Academics Plus School, where Friends of H.A. Brown President Lauren Stichter told the story of how she decided to send her daughter to the school. Ms. Stichter, a graduate of the Philadelphia public school system herself (Fels High School), visited a friend who taught kindergarten at H. A. Brown years ago and was so impressed and uplifted by the wealth of programs and positive energy in the school that she helped form the Friends of H. A. Brown and ultimately decided to send her daughter to the school.
Her daughter is now in kindergarten, and Ms. Stichter couldn’t be happier with the quality of education she is receiving. She boasted about the fact that the school has a low teacher turnover, that the principal has a lot of buy-in from students through a robust student government program, and that the principal—Connie Carnivale—won principal of the year from the District last year.
Principal Carnivale then gave a presentation of her own, speaking about the Gear Up grant that the school received last year, which allowed her to add a new computer lab to the building. She spoke with pride about the school’s arts program—something that also drew Ms. Stichter, an adjunct faculty member at the Moore College of Art and Design, to the school. The school also has full-time ESOL and autistic support classes.
Beyond the various programs and grants the school had received, Principal Carnivale seemed most proud of the accomplishments of her students. She spoke glowingly about how 95% of eighth graders receive multiple offers for high school. H. A. Brown emphasizes the importance of the high school application process with the hope that the skills garnered from this process will translate into strong college application skills. Students are also extra-prepared to enter high school with the addition of an Algebra I program at the school, which allows eighth grade students to get a head start on the Keystone-tested subject. Last school year, eighth graders were able to take the Algebra I Keystone test early, and 24% of students ended up passing, meaning they do not have to take this test in high school.
The next stop on the tour was Horatio B. Hackett School, where Principal Todd Kimmel introduced the group to four fifth grade students who would act as the tour guides for the visit. The excited fifth graders led the group first to the library, where they pumped each other up by whispering, “Be confident! Be confident!” before giving their opening speeches to the tour group. Principal Kimmel also introduced Vicki Hunt, the Home and School Association President at Hackett. Ms. Hunt was integral to getting the library up and running, and she now volunteers daily at the library to ensure that students can enjoy its full use.
The fifth grade tour guides then led the group to the art room, introducing the art teacher, Robert Krauss. One of the fifth graders summed up his appreciation of the teacher succinctly: “Mr. Krauss is really nice and he helps us with art.” Principal Kimmel added that they are especially lucky to have Mr. Krauss at the school because he lives in the neighborhood. Fostering a sense of community is important to Principal Kimmel, and such community is made stronger when teachers, students, and families see one another outside the context of school.
This sense of community was made clear when Principal Kimmel, during the group’s visit to the music room, suggested that the fifth graders and the music teacher, Ruthanne Fisher, join him in singing the Hackett School song. He joked, “We can do it a cappella!” The students sang along happily. Ms. Fisher explained that her goal is to get the kids out into the community to sing so that they can “use their voice in a positive way.” Last school year, they performed at local nursing homes. “She does a lot of cool and fun things,” said one of the fifth grade tour guides. “We practice rhythm. She helps keep our rhythm on point.”
The realty tour then moved on to Alexander Adaire School. Sasha Best, the Partnerships Chair of Friends of Adaire, told the group her story of choosing the school for her children. When she moved to Philadelphia three years ago, she and her family knew no one and had no knowledge of the School District of Philadelphia or school options. In her experience trying to learn about schools in the District, she found everyone she worked with to be extremely helpful. Her two children now attend Adaire.
Ms. Best showed the group Adaire’s newly renovated auditorium, which, with the help of Friends of Adaire, now has an entirely new sound system. The auditorium is used for both school and community events, and the Home and School Association held a huge concert fundraiser there last spring. Anna Jenkins, the principal of Adaire, emphasized the importance of community partnerships as she showed the group around the school. She pointed out the colorful murals painted on the hallway walls by Comcast Cares last year. “We try to keep it clean,” she said. “We try to keep it bright.”
“Our community engagement just continues to grow,” Principal Jenkins reiterated, telling the group that this is something that makes Adaire unique.
Principal Jenkins also takes pride in the wide array of special programs at the school. The school aims to provide programming that goes beyond traditional academic subjects, giving students the opportunity to take lessons in ballroom dancing, mindfulness training, and lots of music programs.
The visit ended with a student—McKayla—reading a speech about why she loves Adaire School. McKayla explained that teachers here helped her progress from basic to proficient last year in reading. She feels confident that she’ll be able to get into a good Philadelphia public high school with the support of her teachers. McKayla concluded her speech by saying that her parents did not graduate high school, but she plans to graduate from a quality high school and then go on to college.
The tour then moved on to John Moffet School, where the School-Based Teacher Leader, Susan Titano, led the group through bustling and bright hallways. Ms. Titano emphasized the strength of family engagement at Moffet. “Our connection between home and school is wonderful,” she said, telling the realtors about the high turnout at Back to School Nights and the “Second Cup of Coffee” meetings that the school hosts once a month, in which families can participate in educational workshops.
“There’s a real sense of pride in the lineage of family members who have gone to Moffet,” Ms. Titano added. Moffet School has become a steadfast symbol of neighborhood pride for generations of families in the area. Parents talk with pride about the fact that they graduated from Moffet and are now sending their children to the school.
The last stop on the realtor tour was General Philip Kearny School, where Sabrina Scott-Feggins, the school’s new principal, greeted the group with coffee and treats from Federal Donuts. Principal Scott-Feggins recruited a few eighth grade students to be tour guides and speak to the school’s strengths. “The thing that’s great to me about Kearny,” said one student, “is the teachers. No matter what’s going on, the teachers are there for you.”
Another student chimed in, “What I like about Kearny is it teaches you more than just the subjects. It teaches you responsibility.” Principal Scott-Feggins nodded in agreement, explaining, “We teach kids to be their best selves.”
Kearny is a designated arts magnet school, but Principal Scott-Feggins took time to show off the new gym and new technology tools in the middle school classrooms. In one of these classrooms, a student shouted out to visitors: “This school is great!”
One of the middle school teachers explained, “Kearny is very much like a community school.” Many students who are now in high school come back to Kearny as soon as the school day is over to visit and reminisce with teachers, and they often talk about how much they miss Kearny.
Tour participants buzzed with excitement as the final school tour came to a close. Principal Scott-Feggins summed up the sentiment of the event in her closing remark to the group: “I’m definitely for public education and for making this a school that I would send my own child to.”
