PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With 17 schools officially on the chopping block for next school year, Philadelphia school district officials are making sure students changing schools get an early look at their new stomping grounds.
On Thursday, John Welsh Elementary students headed about four blocks away to an open house at the Hartranft School in Fairhill, where the students seemed excited about their new home.
“If I’m being honest, at my old school, Welsh, I don’t really like it,” said seventh grader Luis Rodriguez, who said Welsh is too small. “So moving over here…I would definitely like it.”
The Welsh students toured the music, dance and gym programs, and students at their new school were excited to welcome their new peers.
“The best thing [about] this school [is] they have a lot of events,” said Hartranft eighth grader Kelvin Rodriguez. “We’re having a zoo trip and a skating trip next month.”
Administrators were slightly more apprehensive about the difficulties of the move, but were quick to assuage any concerns.
“Not just our students and their families but the Welsh community as a whole, our staff as well, they're actively grieving the closing of their school,” said Welsh principal Daaiyah Green, who was assistant principal at Hartranft four years ago. “It is a huge change, but as I said earlier, it's like family meeting family.”
Hartranft principal Keith Arrington echoed her commitment to making the transition work.
“Even a few short blocks away, there are different nuances in neighborhoods that we have to account for before we put them all together,” he said.
The district’s plan calls to close 17 schools and modernize 169 others. Hartranft is one of those slated for modernization, which Arrington said will make the experience even better.
“Some of the upgrades that are happening, whether it's with the schoolyard or the beautification of some of the grounds, all of those things really enhance the school,” he said.
One key concern for parents of students in closing schools is that their children would move to programs with worse academics. While superintendent Tony Watlington has said 90% of students at closing schools will move to better-performing schools, that’s not the case at Hartranft, which had worse math and reading scores than Welsh. But Watlington put his faith in the team at the new combined school.
“We think between Principal Green and Principal Arrington and all of these supports, our students are going to be okay,” he said.
