Young [SWCC] Philadelphia family's choice reflects faith in its public school

[Lolly]

Young Philadelphia family's choice reflects faith in its public school

[Eastcoast]

I think they are batsh*t crazy for not utilizing the spot at ICS.

That said I wish them well.

[annie]

The sooner more people in this city get past the "You must sent your child to X or you're nuts," the better. Every person, caste or region has its own weird little list.

[dr_gingivitis]

I think they are batsh*t crazy for not utilizing the spot at ICS.

That said I wish them well.

Thanks, I guess.

[jillys]

Eastcoast, I admit I felt a little crazy sending ICS an email saying thanks but no thanks, but in the seven years we have lived here we have gotten to know Stanton very well. I know very little about ICS except for its reputation. Choosing a school is a very personal decision and I agree with Annie. I think a lot of people make their school lists with very little tangible information. I feel quite secure in our choice and hope it will encourage more people to at least check out their local schools and maybe expand their options a bit.

[Dolemite]

It sounds like to me there isn't much difference in Stanton and the ICS Enhanced program. It seems like a reasonable decision to me. As long as the SDP doesn't derail what Stanton is doing things should continue to get even better. The biggest thing ICS has going for it is the Immersion program especially if you think second language acquisition is important.

The thing to take from all this is that the Scott's had a CHOICE to make and were not forced to take only 1 public school option. It's great they had multiple good options.

[jillys]

The spot we were offered was in enhanced, and I agree that in picking the brains of everyone I know who is connected to ICS in some way, I came to the same conclusion about the two programs (Stanton vs. ICS enhanced) being very similar. I will say my one main concern is/was with the district itself, but there are simply no guarantees regardless of where you send your children to school.

[CV's mum]

Just this morning I read this on the Raising Philadelphia blog on Philly.com: "My local public school is not an option for us. I don't know anyone in the neighborhood who sends their children there." (When your child doesn't get in)

I know that it "takes a village", but since when are we letting our friends decide the best educational scenario for our family? So I was relieved to read Jill's quote in the posted article: "Everyone kind of assumes they can't send their kid to the neighborhood school, but they've never stepped inside." I was pleasantly surprised the first time I visited our neighborhood school that isn't on the list of usual suspects. Philly School Search was a great resource when it was up and running and my favorite post is Don't Trust Your Friends When it Comes to School Choices (Philadelphia School Search: Don't Trust Your Friends | Philly School Search). When School Choice actually means that parents get to choose (infrequently the case, problematic in itself), each family uses a different set of priorities and values to determine what is the best fit. If we do not even investigate the school down the street for ourselves, we are giving our friends great influence over our children's educational opportunities.

[petefm]

Mark and Jill - I've followed your public discussions / deliberations / activism about Stanton here over the past few years. Just want to say good choice and thanks for all the work you've done. We don't have kids (yet?) but I think the continued success of Stanton is really important to the continued success of our neighborhood.

Pete

[annie]

Just this morning I read this on the Raising Philadelphia blog on Philly.com: "My local public school is not an option for us. I don't know anyone in the neighborhood who sends their children there." (When your child doesn't get in)

I really wish that reporter were more introspective or questioning when making statements like that. (Obviously that school is an option for someone's children) She's been called out on it before and gets all "it's only a blog and I'm not an education reporter." Philly School Search, bless his heart, could be the same way but was at least conscious of it at times.

[Eastcoast]

Thanks, I guess.

Mark and Jill

I do sincerely wish you and yours the absolute best and I apologize for my flippant remark.

Certainly we all view education choices for our children thru our own distinct prisms.

We had a child attending FS and I still threw our hat into the drawing at ICS. Prior to the drawing my wife and I had several (very) lengthy discussions about our actions in the off chance we were awarded a spot. We found the immersion program to be very compelling (less so the enhanced) and it opened up a can of hypothetical worms for us, we were very interested in sending our child to (at least geographically) a neighborhood school, we would save a pile of gold but at the cost of potentially blocking another child with fewer options from attending a good school. We discussed issues of racial and economic diversity, facilities, teacher to class ratios, round and round the discussions went without any real resolution.

Needless to say we were not chosen from the 800 some applications submitted for kindergarten that year so it was all an interesting albeit pointless exercise.

[dr_gingivitis]

Mark and Jill

I do sincerely wish you and yours the absolute best and I apologize for my flippant remark.

Certainly we all view education choices for our children thru our own distinct prisms.

We had a child attending FS and I still threw our hat into the drawing at ICS. Prior to the drawing my wife and I had several (very) lengthy discussions about our actions in the off chance we were awarded a spot. We found the immersion program to be very compelling (less so the enhanced) and it opened up a can of hypothetical worms for us, we were very interested in sending our child to (at least geographically) a neighborhood school, we would save a pile of gold but at the cost of potentially blocking another child with fewer options from attending a good school. We discussed issues of racial and economic diversity, facilities, teacher to class ratios, round and round the discussions went without any real resolution.

Needless to say we were not chosen from the 800 some applications submitted for kindergarten that year so it was all an interesting albeit pointless exercise.

No need for an apology, we knew in making this decision that many people would think the same, you're just the only one who has said it on here. We've heard it from others prior to the article, and know that the only reason this is news worthy is because it is surprising. We made this decision with eyes wide open and decided that if we were going to pass on ICS we were going to do everything possible to use that decision to cast more positive light onto something that we believe in, neighborhood schools, specifically EM Stanton.

[jillys]

Just this morning I read this on the Raising Philadelphia blog on Philly.com: "My local public school is not an option for us. I don't know anyone in the neighborhood who sends their children there." (When your child doesn't get in)

I had never seen the blog, but was just directed to it because she is already talking about the article. In her profile she states, "It's hard to be a parent in the city." It's hard to be a parent anywhere. But anyway, I continue to highly recommend the book "Mother on Fire" by Sandra Singh Loh to anyone with young children looking at school options in the city. She is incredibly funny and self-effacing and details her process of exploring school options for her children in LA. It really helped me to get a grip and laugh at myself. And she totally nails the "I've never been inside the local school and know nothing about it but could never send my child there" thing.

[parrtar]

More power to Mark, Jill & the whole family. They are doing more for the neighborhood than anyone else around. Jill/Mark for Mayor!

[parrtar]

Also, LB & fam (I didn't forget).

[annie]

I continue to highly recommend the book "Mother on Fire" by Sandra Singh Loh to anyone with young children looking at school options in the city. She is incredibly funny and self-effacing and details her process of exploring school options for her children in LA. It really helped me to get a grip and laugh at myself. And she totally nails the "I've never been inside the local school and know nothing about it but could never send my child there" thing.

Second that recommendation. Great book.

[dr_gingivitis]

Absent from the article is that Stanton still has seats in 1st, 2nd, and 5th grades if you are looking for a good public school for your kid(s).

[pearlstreet]

Mark and Jill,

First, I just want to thank you for being pioneers with this. I've been following Mark's enthusiasm for Stanton, but admittedly haven't focused on this school (our catchment) as an option.

Last year my husband and I jumped into the Elementary School Battle Royale last year for consideration of various pre-K programs (private, charters). The former we couldn't afford or weren't willing to commute, and for the latter our piece of paper wasn't picked out of the wrought iron bingo birdcage. We were admittedly stressed, exhausted, and depleted in the end and enrolled our son for a final cozy year at his current preschool.

Some questions:
Chester Arthur has a very vocal and communicative parent's group.
Is there the same for Stanton?

When is Stanton's first Open House? And how else do you suggest becoming familiar with the school as a prospective parent?

Also let me know if you'd be willing to speak privately about the school to us.
Thanks.

[Franklin Stove]

Mark and Jill,

First, I just want to thank you for being pioneers with this. I've been following Mark's enthusiasm for Stanton, but admittedly haven't focused on this school (our catchment) as an option.

Last year my husband and I jumped into the Elementary School Battle Royale last year for consideration of various pre-K programs (private, charters). The former we couldn't afford or weren't willing to commute, and for the latter our piece of paper wasn't picked out of the wrought iron bingo birdcage. We were admittedly stressed, exhausted, and depleted in the end and enrolled our son for a final cozy year at his current preschool.

Some questions:
Chester Arthur has a very vocal and communicative parent's group.
Is there the same for Stanton?

When is Stanton's first Open House? And how else do you suggest becoming familiar with the school as a prospective parent?

Also let me know if you'd be willing to speak privately about the school to us.
Thanks.

Oh God, more pioneer talk. I'm glad that the Scotts are sending their kid to Stanton, its a smart choice. But enough with the pioneer, colonizer, civilize the savages analogies (not on this thread, and definitely not from the Scotts, just in S. Philly in general). You know why they're comfortable sending their kid there? Because its a good school with a proven track record. They are making the same decision that smart, well-informed black families have been making for years. They are not enrolling their kid in an effort to turn that school around, they are making a wise choice to join an already thriving school and to take advantage of the years of hard work that others have put into that place (and that I'm sure they have and will continue to put in as well).

Sorry, I know that the core of your post was well-intentioned and so on, it just bothers me that there's a mentality in this part of town that nothing can be viewed as legitimate until white people give it the seal of approval. The pioneers slaughtered the natives and depleted all the natural resources, so that's not totally a good look, you know?

[Lolly]

Where's the "Like" button in here?

+1 Franklin Stove