Who else amongst you regular bloggers are parents of a young child or young children? More specifically, parents who live in the city?

I'd like to get a discussion going about school. Not the woes of the Philly school system in general, but specifics that are of importance to parents with kids who will be school-age in the next few years. And I don't want to talk about how we'll just have to leave the city - we're committed to staying. I'm not interested in giving up & returning to the suburbs.

So, my contribution: My wife & I live in Fairmount and have a daughter, Kate, who just turned 3. She is currently attending a very nice daycare in Rittenhouse Square part-time. It's a good place, and she's happy there.

What's next? Well, we REALLY don't want to pay for private school. Not because we don't love our daughter and wish her the best, but because we're not 100 percent convinced that the only way to get this is to pay college-level tuition from Kindergarten on. I work at Penn as an academic advisor and also take part in Admissions selection committee meetings, so I've thought a lot about academic background and future success, and I think the idea that you can only do well by attending expensive schools from day one is naive and simplistic.

That being said, I want her school to be good - well disciplined, nurturing, stimulating. Two schools we particularly like: Russell Byers Charter School (drawback: very hard to get into) and McCall Elementary in Wash West (we're not in their catchment, so it would also be hard to get into, though maybe doable). The University City New School looks great also, but again, not an option if you don't live there.

Thoughts from other parents (or non-parents) on this issue?

i'm not a parent but a productof private school. not all schools are creatred equal in the prvate realm either. some offer bettrer deal than others. i'm still amazed at how expensive my high school has become. when i went theri it was relatively reasonable (a voucher would have paid most of the tuition.) however, what they don't advertise is that most parents did not pay full tuition. scholarships and other help were given. i guess you ahve to appreciate catholics devotion to good works. if i ahd a child, i'd consider a charter school but also woudl like to send them to private. the most affordable of which are catholic. you may want to talk to them to see if you would be eligible for assistance too. just to see what you options are. masterman is the best in the state from the rankings. personally, i'd consider homeschooling b/c of the students i met in college, they were clearly well ahead of the pack. however, their social skills were mixed. i met some that proved that it is possibleto produce a socially normal child in homeschool. they had been oinvolved in community leagues, littel league, after school stuff, etc. this was possib;e b/c they got a full school day in in much less time.

Thanks for the thoughts, El. Yes, I am also a product of a small, expensive private school, and I've actually never once attended a public institution, from Kindergarten through to the PhD. Depending on your perspective, this makes my desire to send my daughter through the Philly public system either laudably un-elitist or foolishly uninformed and naive, or perhaps both.

I will say this: I do not believe that an expensive education is automatically a good one. I think there are pathways to success that do not go through ivy-covered halls; it just depends on how an individual measures success. Most of the students I talk to at Penn, despite being very intelligent young people, are surprisingly narrow-minded about what constitutes success in life: law, business, medicine, that's about it. If that's what my daughter ends up wanting to do, great, but if she wants to be an artist or a mechanic or virtually anything else (with some limits, of course), then it's fine with me as long as it's personally satisfying to her. (All fine and good for me to be saying that now, when she's 3, right? Ask me again when she's 18.)

By the way, I'm a bit dubious about home school. The few I've seen at Penn have seemed to have a particularly tough time adapting, at least to a large, somewhat impersonal research institution like Penn. Perhaps they do better at the Swarthmore-type places.

personally i think most students do better at smaller colleges.
you are right, i went to st. aloysuis for two years and didn;t learn a damned thing.

Niel,

Thanks for re-focusing what our discussions on the topic of urban education should be about:

I have a young daughter who will be beginning school in just 3 years. I live here in Philadelphia, and intend to send her to public school here. There are many amazingly dedicated, competent, and creative people teaching and leading in our public schools today, Philadelphia included.

Let's spend our energy and resources on seeking innovative ways to empower these dedicated educators to cultivate a stronger partnership with parents and community leaders.

Philadelphia parents out there- let's step forward and become more involved in advocating for education in our city.

I would also like to hear from parents of children who live in Philadelphia and intend to send their children to our public schools and be actively involved.

Peace,

John

P.S.- Please be sure to vote on Tuesday Nov. 4th- I won't tell you who to vote for, just please vote and make an informed decision that will most benefit our city's children.

that's great that you are willing to experiment with your daughter's education. let us know how it works out in eighteen years.

El,

It is not an experiment, it is a commitment to be an active parent and advocate. You act like vouchers and private schooling is the answer to education in our city. That type of arrogant attitude is part of why we have the challenges we have- because too many people have been conned into believing that the only way to get a quality education is to flee to private schools or the suburbs. This simply is not the case.

If you want to advocate for people fleeing the city- good for you. There are enough dedicated citizens, parents, teachers and leaders to make a difference in our city's schools.

I will be an active participant, advocate and supporter in my daughter's education as her parent. I will assure that she and her schoolmates are receiving a quality education, are well supplied, and are receiving every opportunity possible to obtain a quality education.

You don't like our city's schools? Good for you, move out to the suburbs and pay a five figure annual tuition to send your child to a private school. I am committed to advocating for my daughter's education, and for our city's schools. Why? Because there are many great educators and supportive parents in our city that are also committed to stick around and work together to make our city's schools better.

Peace,

John

that's nice john. you know how to use th eword arrogant. of course, apparently you do not know what it means. b/c i do not agree with you does nto make me arrogant. if i were to send my kid to a private school, i would remain in the city. i am no to going to send a child to a school with a metal detector for an experiment. say what you will, i have not been impressed with city school educations and neither have most people.

I think City schools can educate our children, if there are people out there willing to be advocates for the children whose parents can't afford private schools education, with or without vouchers. I hope to send my children to public schools in Philly and be an advocate for those children, especially because my parents would have been those parents who couldn't afford private school with or without vouchers. I don't think it's an experiment - urban public schools around the country have proven that their children can succeed with the right resources, teachers, and plans to increase parental involvement. I have yet to hear how vouchers will improve conditions for ALL children in the district, not just the select few who have both access to vouchers, and the extra resources to use them.

Niel,

I have a 5 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. My daughter attends K at the Sadie Alexander school in U City. It is a great school.

Given the demographics I think at some point that school will have to take kids from other areas of the city. There simply aren't enough children to fill the school. University City has one of the lowest K-8 populations in the city. I think only center city had a smaller population of children. There simply isn't enough housing stock in the catchment area to populate the school.

You might also want to consider the Samuel Powel school. I believe it is in Powelton Village. My wife and I were looking at the Powel school when we were frightened by the purchase prices for homes in UCity. It is a feeder school for Masterman and they've lost a significant amount of students to the Alexander school.

Whichever way you are leaning I'd advise you to begin taking steps now. We had a grueling house search because of the school issue. I wish we had started about three years earlier.