Is Green Woods Charter a public school?

[seand]

Right back at you. I bought my house in QV in 1992, and took my chances with gun shots ringing every night. I wanted to live in a diverse neighborhood, where my future childen (child, as it turns out) would not grow up in an obsessively sheltered environment.

I doubt thats what they are receiving right now. How dare you extrapolate out like that. You are so caught up in your smug political assumptions it makes you a nasty person sometimes. Annie and I live on the same block. I'm quite sure we hear gunshots a lot more than you do.

[Garret]

In fairness, it is located in Andorra / Upper Roxborough (never know where one ends and the other begins). It is surrounded by Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy, Andorra, East Falls which are some of the richest neighborhoods in the city. Roxborough and Manayunk are probably not far behind in terms of affluence. This probably does not explain all the low poverty level but must explain a lot of it.

[ShoshTrvls]

I doubt thats what they are receiving right now. How dare you extrapolate out like that. You are so caught up in your smug political assumptions it makes you a nasty person sometimes. Annie and I live on the same block. I'm quite sure we hear gunshots a lot more than you do.

Given that my daughter attends a public middle school with much greater diversity than GW (which somehow manages to have the highest test scores in the city, and some of the highest in the country, notwithstanding the fact that it does not present the same barriers to entry as GW), I would say that she is.

[seand]

Yeah thats right. Everyone who has a different opinion from you on anything lives in a bubble. Not you, though. Everyone else but you. You are so wrong and so smug sometimes. Whatever, this is really off topic.

[Dolemite]

Penn Alexander
Greenfield
Meredith
Independence Charter

From the School District with the exception of Independence Charter. The site for Independence Charter I think is getting its information from the Philly.com report cards. Penn Alexander students must (in theory though there are exceptions) live in its catchment boundaries and doesn't take outside catchment transfers unlike Greenfield and Meredith which do as long as there is room.

Thanks for the links. I was going by "Qualifying for Free/Reduce Lunch" numbers available at various sites.

I have to say I am having a hard time believing that Meredith number. I do see that it's an estimated figure. I wonder how accurate it is.

[macdaire]

I had the same reaction to the Meredith number. The majority of those kids are now in catchment.

[annie]

In fairness, it is located in Andorra / Upper Roxborough (never know where one ends and the other begins). It is surrounded by Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy, Andorra, East Falls which are some of the richest neighborhoods in the city. Roxborough and Manayunk are probably not far behind in terms of affluence. This probably does not explain all the low poverty level but must explain a lot of it.

Absolutely but to get aaaallll the way down to 17% in Philly there has to be something else going on and the parent I quoted calling the application process complicated, non-transparent and convoluted gives a hint. I understand the call for a uniform application process dictated by the state or district but in absence of that I feel the school has a responsibility to look at it's numbers and go, "Holly hell, what are we doing that is discouraging low SES applicants?! This is undermining our entire argument of success as a city public school and that charters do better when faced with the many of the same challenges as district schools." Especially if it is making the argument to expand and serve more students and the promise to serve more students living in low-performing district catchments (i.e. largely poorer areas).

[macdaire]

However I guess the same could be said for Special Ed. Numbers- look at the skew in Meredit between MG and Special education.

[seand]

My catchment school, if my kid were to attend.

African American 93.8
White 1.2
Asian 0
Latino 1.6
Other 3.5

Economically Disadvantaged 93.4
Other Students 6.6

Year This School % SDP Average %
2006-2007 34.1 42.8
2007-2008 50 42.8
2008-2009 37.5 47.3
2009-2010 40.7 49.5
2010-2011 39.1 51.7

https://webapps.philasd.org/school_profile/view/1300

It does not seem particularly "diverse" by any grammatically accurate use of the term.

[seand]

Absolutely but to get aaaallll the way down to 17% in Philly there has to be something else going on and the parent I quoted calling the application process complicated, non-transparent and convoluted gives a hint. I understand the call for a uniform application process dictated by the state or district but in absence of that I feel the school has a responsibility to look at it's numbers and go, "Holly hell, what are we doing that is discouraging low SES applicants?! This is undermining our entire argument of success as a city public school and that charters do better when faced with the many of the same challenges as district schools." Especially if it is making the argument to expand and serve more students and the promise to serve more students living in low-performing district catchments (i.e. largely poorer areas).

So is the point to challenge them to expand access to a larger and a more economically disadvantaged group of students or is it to question whether they deserve funding from the PSD at all? Because it sounds a lot like the latter rather than the former.

[macdaire]

Can you do a EH-36 transfer form without visiting 440? I do not believe they are online or at least they were not 2 years ago when I last did one. I have hand delivered both of my transfer (out of catchment) requests. Doesn't ICS also have a hand delivery method of lottery application?
Let us also remember that having online applications could be more of a disadvantage for those who are low income.

[annie]

So is the point to challenge them to expand access to a more and a more economically disadvantaged group of students or is it to question whether they deserve funding from the PSD at all? Because it sounds a lot like the latter rather than the former.

Yeah I think you were reading a lot more militancy in my thread title than is there. I'm not calling for audits because they were already done with application issues found but not addressed. I just want them addressed so the school, and other schools like it, can live up to the designation as a public school receiving public funds especially if it is supposed to be expanding while reaching students in SPI 4-10 catchments.

[seand]

Yeah I think you were reading a lot more militancy in my thread title than is there. I'm not calling for audits because they were already done with application issues found but not addressed. I just want them addressed so the school, and other schools like it, can live up to its designation as a public school receiving public funds especially if it is supposed to be expanding while reaching students in SPI 4-10 catchments.

That sounds like a fundamental fairness issue. And very reasonable.

What does this term mean?

SPI 4-10 catchments.

[gren]

School Performance Index (SPI) is ratings of the best and worst schools done by the District. 1 is the best, 10 is the worst. Annie's talking about making sure students in the worst catchments (4-10) have access to improved opportunities.

[seand]

School Performance Index (SPI) is ratings of the best and worst schools done by the District. 1 is the best, 10 is the worst. Annie's talking about making sure students in the worst catchments (4-10) have access to improved opportunities.

Where do you find a specific school's index? Who makes the index, the SRC?

[Dolemite]

Did other Charters have the same issue regarding applications. How about Lab Charter? I can't imagine a school having a more difficult process than Lab Carter. Do they get a pass because they have enough economically disadvantage?

[annie]

Did other Charters have the same issue regarding applications. How about Lab Charter? I can't imagine a school having a more difficult process than Lab Carter. Do they get a pass because they have enough economically disadvantage?

No, Laboratory is on my list too. Green Woods got picked on because it completed its renewal process and its documents are up. Lab hasn't returned its documents yet (this is the sound of me grumbling) and consequently has not gone before the SRC:

Charter Renewal Recommendations for 2011/2012 - The School District of Philadelphia

[annie]

Where do you find a specific school's index? Who makes the index, the SRC?

District to recalculate school ratings in wake of cheating investigation | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

This article has a bunch of links that will provide the resources and information you're looking for. It also quotes a real mouthy bitch.

[seand]

District to recalculate school ratings in wake of cheating investigation | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

This article has a bunch of links that will provide the resources and information you're looking for. It also quotes a real mouthy bitch.

So for example our catchment school (not Lea) is a 5 and if either of our kids attended Green Woods that would still count towards that criteria, though they may be not what you intended. It seems like just about any criteria is prone to different shortcomings.

[Dolemite]

Green Woods could probably do some things to make the application process easier but I think that Charters that do things differently should have a process in place so that parents know what they are getting into. If the application was simple then you would get a lot of people applying just because they heard it was a good school and then end up unhappy once their child started. There is a middle ground somewhere there.