The School Reform Commission will vote Wednesday on 39
applications for new charter schools, including a pair based in Germantown.
Residents behind the proposed Germantown Community
Charter School hope to open an independent school inside the former home of
Germantown High School on East High Street.
If approved, the school would open in 2016 and ultimately
serve 1,050 neighborhood students in grades six through 12.
Students would be taught traditional subjects, but also
"21st century" skills tied to job-readiness, namely in hospitality
and the building trades.
Down the road, neighbors hope the school can co-locate
with a boutique hotel and a restaurant. Both would be folded into the school's
curriculum in some way.
"We are providing something different, something
organic and really community-driven," group leader Julie Stapleton-Carroll
told NewsWorks after the second and final application hearing.
"This can serve as a model for comprehensive high schools."
The Concordia Group, a Maryland-based development
company, has bid $6.8 million for a package of shuttered schools, including
GHS.
The sale has not yet been finalized, but Concordia has
expressed interest in a partnership and sent a letter of support to the SRC.
The team pushing to open the Philadelphia Career and
Technical Academy will also be on hand for Wednesday's special session.
The group, a partnership between Redemptive Enterprises
and WAY Haberdashery, wants to offer a STEM-based curriculum and vocational
training to 600 students from the Germantown area and throughout the city.
In addition to taking classes in core subjects, students
would get certified in one of five specialties. Options would include certified
nursing, automotive technology, computer networking, culinary arts and
business.
The school would also have a college preparatory bent.
"We have a good coalition of people. We have people
who are really dedicated and I really believe that our program is tailored to
be unique. I think we just are just the right people at the right time,"
said Frank Robinson, president of Redemptive Enterprises.
If approved, it's unclear where the school would be
located.
The group has had discussions with Philly Office Retail,
owned by Mt. Airy developer Ken Weinstein.
Weinstein owns a five-building campus at 4811 Germantown
Ave., which once housed Germantown Settlement Charter School.
A property on Church Lane, about a mile away, is also a
possibility.
Wednesday's special session begins at 3:30 p.m. The SRC
will vote later in the evening after applicants and members of the public have
a chance to address the five-member body.
No comments:
Post a Comment