PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With the start of school four weeks away, the School District of Philadelphia Monday launched its second annual Back-to-School Bus Tour to help parents and students get ready.
Families lined up outside the Bridesburg Recreation Center in Northeast Philadelphia for the first of 10 back-to-school events, where district staffers hand out free backpacks filled with school supplies.
Migdalia Dancel received a backpack for her daughter Jordan, who’s starting kindergarten at Juniata Park Academy.
“We got a bookbag. In it, there seems to be a book, some pencils, a pencil case, crayons and a sharpener,” Dancel said. “This comes in handy. I have another child, so this stuff helps.”
Debbie McCune was lined up with four of her 11 grandchildren. “Everything – food – is expensive,” McCune said. “To get something for free, it helps a whole lot.”
Classes begin for Philadelphia public school students on August 29.
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For the first time in a decade, the Philadelphia public school year begins under a new superintendent.
Tony Watlington assumed the reins from former Superintendent William Hite in June.
Jim Coccio, a fifth-grade teacher at Bridesburg Elementary School, believes Watlington is up to the job.
“We are a city that’s struggling with poverty and crime and violence, and it’s important that the leadership really takes our school – the district – in a new direction,” Coccio said.
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Watlington and Mayor Jim Kenney are expected to attend Friday’s back-to-school giveaway at the Northeast High School sports complex.
People attending the Back-to-School Bus Tour stops can not only receive the free backpack and school supplies, but can pre-register for classes from Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade, and even receive immunizations at specific tour stops if they make appointments.
Click here for bus tour locations and other information.