Seven Phila. schools to become charters

With community support and the blessing of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, seven failing city schools will become charters in September.

A total of 14 schools citywide will get dramatic overhauls - the seven charters and six "Promise Academies" run by Ackerman herself. The fate of one school, West Philadelphia High, is not settled; its advisory council needs more time to weigh options, the district said.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission approved all the so-called Renaissance school makeovers except West Philadelphia's on Wednesday. Each was made after an advisory council of parents and community members interviewed potential administrators for the schools and made recommendations to Ackerman.

Bluford and Daroff Schools will be run by Universal Companies. Douglass School will be taken over by those who now manage the Young Scholars Charter School.

Harrity, Mann, and Smedley Schools will be run by Mastery Charter Schools, and Stetson Middle School will be run by ASPIRA Inc. of Pa.

Another school, Potter-Thomas, had its pick of providers but chose to become a Promise Academy, along with five previously announced schools.

Before the commission vote, Pamela K. Williams, leader of the Daroff advisory council, thanked Ackerman for having "a vision of hope for those who others have considered hopeless."

The Renaissance schools, including Daroff, at 56th and Vine Streets, have failed to meet state standards for several years running. They have been cited for a range of problems, from poor instruction to a lack of student safety.

Williams and others are convinced that after years of failed experiments, this is the right move.

"We believe that with the proper oversight, children will begin to succeed, not just at Daroff but at all of the Renaissance schools," said Williams, a school police officer who also runs a local business.

The Renaissance schools will see wholesale changes - longer school day and year, some Saturday school, and new curriculum. No more than 50 percent of the schools' current teaching force can be rehired.

Unlike most charter schools, all 14 will be run as neighborhood schools, with all children who now attend the schools eligible to stay there, including special education students and English language learners.

Teachers who may choose to remain at the charter schools can no longer be members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Promise Academies will be staffed with union members.

Ackerman gave some hint at what her Promise Academies may look like - they will have the longer school day, plus world language instruction for all students, and college and career counseling. Parents will be asked to sign contracts to volunteer at the school.

For some of the schools, this marks the third major shift in governance since 2002, when the district gave dozens of schools to outside providers. That largely failed experiment in privatization will end after next year, officials said Wednesday.

Ackerman said the previous attempt at using outside providers to turn around schools was destined to fail because it did not give the providers enough autonomy and did not include communities.

Jimmy Allen, a retired district teacher and member of the University City advisory council, agreed. He said communities are on board with the new process.

"This is really going to work," Allen said. "A general can't win the battle without the army, and we're the army."

Parents yesterday commended Ackerman and her staff for including them in the decision-making.

Sporting a royal blue "Yes to Promise Academy" T-shirt, Migdalia Lopez, a parent and member of the Potter-Thomas advisory council, said the process has "been amazing. I've learned so much out of this."

"This is just the beginning for Potter-Thomas," she said. "We're not going to let you guys down. We're going to do what we've got to do."

Only one advisory council did not get its first choice for a match, but the chair of the Douglass School committee, Sahaba Thompson, said he wasn't fazed. He praised the district's pick for Douglass' match, Young Scholars.

"All the choices are beautiful choices," Thomas said. "We're just happy to get any one of them."

Benjamin W. Rayer, the district official who oversaw the Renaissance process, said Douglass' first pick was not a possibility because the provider "overstretched its capacity to run schools."

Two providers that qualified to run schools did not receive them. Philadelphia-based Congreso and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins/Diplomas Now were not given schools, though West Philadelphia's council has given signs that it is leaning toward Hopkins.

The work of transforming the schools now begins, and getting essentially new schools up and running in three months will be a challenge, the charter providers agreed.

Shahied A. Dawan, a vice president of Universal, said the company has already started recruiting staff.

Come September, parents can expect to see an upgraded facility, Dawan said - better lighting, new uniforms.

"We want to do some things that physically, you can see you're going to a new beginning," said Dawan.

Current teachers in the two new Universal schools may apply to work there, he said - "as many of the staff that want to stay that fit our criteria."

Universal has a successful charter, but the two district schools it has been running since 2002 have seen mixed results. E.M. Stanton has met state standards, but Edwin Vare is in its seventh year of failing to meet state goals.

Ackerman said she had "no reservations" about Universal, whose performance at Vare was hampered by the School District's former turnaround model, she said.

"If you allow them to operate as a separate charter school, they run a terrific school," Ackerman said.

Scott Gordon, chief executive of Mastery, which has earned national recognition for its turnaround work, said that the organization will begin meeting parents and will spend the summer assessing students.

Mastery has already turned three district schools around and has another start-up charter, but has never run an elementary school.

Gordon said Mastery has already begun to work with a New York organization to gear up for running elementary schools. It has already hired some staff, he said.

"I think great things are going to happen in the coming year," Gordon said. "I think you're going to see those schools go from the most struggling schools in the district to the best schools in the district."

The commission's approval will bring the total number of charters in Philadelphia to 74. The seven new charters will be funded just as the current 67 are, with district funds partially reimbursed by the state.

Aspira Inc. of Pennsylvania: Will run Stetson Middle School (3200 B St.). Currently runs two charters, Eugenio Maria de Hostos and Antonia Pantoja. De Hostos has met state standards in the 2008-09 school year, the most recent available; Pantoja, which opened last academic year, did not.

Mastery Charter Schools: Will run Harrity (5601 Christian St.), Mann (5376 W. Berks St.), and Smedley (1790 Bridge St.) Schools. Mastery took over three district schools - Thomas, Shoemaker, and Pickett, all of which met state standards. Mastery Lenfest, which opened as a charter, also met state goals.

Universal Companies: Will run Bluford (5900 Baltimore Ave.) and Daroff Schools (5630 Vine St.). Universal Institute Charter School met state standards. Since 2002, the company has also been an "educational management organization" partnering with the school district to run Edwin Vare (2100 S. 24th St.) and E.M. Stanton (1700 Christian St.) Schools. Stanton met state standards, but Vare has failed to meet them for seven years running.

Young Scholars Charter School: Will run Douglass School (2118 W. Norris St.). Its charter met state standards.

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