54-708: Wissahickon may refer to the following in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania: Wissahickon, Philadelphia , a section or neighborhood of Philadelphia Wissahickon Creek , a tributary of the Schuylkill River Wissahickon Memorial Bridge , spans the above creek in Philadelphia Wissahickon Trail , a suburban trail Wissahickon Formation , a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware Wissahickon High School , in
108-601: A "thorough and efficient" education; it was dismissed outright by the state court. The second case, a civil rights suit filed in Federal District Court, by the district, the city, and other interested parties, contended that the state's funding practices discriminated against school districts with large numbers of non-white students; the School District of Philadelphia was a key complainant in this case. The city agreed to put this case on hold when Mayor Street negotiated
162-532: A Neighborhood Conversation Overlay (NCO) to mitigate the impact of new development in the neighborhood as well as maintain the walkability and character of it. Public meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month. Another area civic association, Wissahickon Neighbors Civic Association (WNCA), serves the community northwest of Ridge Avenue. Public meetings are held on the third Thursday of every month at Pilgrim Church. School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia ( SDP )
216-618: A Parent to Work Day, and Superintendent's Home Visits. Parent Assistance Desks (PADs) offered a way for parents to feel welcomed upon entering schools by having a parent from the community sit in an office or at a desk at the front door to provide needed resources and information. The Title I Parents 'R' Equal Partners (PREP) Program helped PREPare parents for effective partnerships with principals and administrators by conducting monthly workshops and training. In 2009, The Superintendent's Roundtable discussions were held to hear (firsthand) from many parents who felt that their children were not receiving
270-401: A chief executive officer. In 2001, the district had a projected deficit of $ 216.7 million in its current $ 1.7 billion budget. There was a crisis in making the school payroll and paying $ 30 million in vendor bills. In recognition of the assistance, Mayor Street agreed to postpone for three months a 1998 federal lawsuit brought by the city claiming racial discrimination in the way
324-546: A coalition of labor unions and community groups called the "Coalition to Keep Our Public Schools Public", filed a lawsuit to stop the state from signing a contract for Edison Schools to manage city schools. The state backed off on a hostile takeover and negotiated with the city. One of the chief concerns was the complete privatization of the school district. The reform plan was opposed by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Protestors like J. Whyatt Mondesire of
378-486: A hunger strike. On June 17, two parents and two cafeteria workers began a hunger strike and the protest was named "Fast for Safe Schools". The protesters received a lot of support from the community as well as politicians. On June 28 fifteen politicians fasted for twenty-four hours to show their support. On the same day members of the community delivered a petition with more than one thousand signatures to Governor Corbett. Governor Corbett did finally add $ 140 million to
432-710: A months long negotiation under the legislation enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in April 1998. The takeover plan had six main elements: putting the district under the control of a School Reform Commission; hire a CEO; enable the CEO to reform the teaching staff by hiring non-certified staff, reconstitute troubled schools by reassigning or firing staff; allow the commission to hire for-profit firms to manage some schools; convert some schools to charter schools; and reallocate and redistribute school district resources. At
486-450: A parent, was increased to serve 173 schools. Many of the programs have received local and national attention for pioneering the field of parent engagement. The school district has an art collection that contains about 1,125 paintings, photos, sculptures and other pieces that are displayed in schools or are stored in an undisclosed facility. The estimated worth was $ 30 million in 2003, but district spokesperson Fernando Gallard estimates
540-432: A second language, and other evidence-based knowledge and skills enhancement courses. Parent University was funded heavily by a Federal Stimulus grant. The district also set up citywide resource centers where parents can get resources to seek help from the district on issues that could not be resolved at the school, such as bullying problems or complaints. The number of Parent Ombudsmen, school-based staff who work directly with
594-579: A small magazine room, and two toilets. The Wissahickon Branch served the Wissahickon neighborhood until it closed in 1969. Sometime soon after, the building burned down. Along the perimeter of Wissahickon is one of the longest and oldest thoroughfares in Philadelphia, Ridge Avenue . One SEPTA Regional Rail line connects the neighborhood to Center City: the Manayunk/Norristown Line stops at
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#1732848923294648-439: A year later launched a statewide advocacy organization, Good Schools Pennsylvania, to mobilize citizens in support of improved state funding for public education). He called improving public education "one of the great civil rights battles of this generation." The board of education then implemented a new management structure, replacing the superintendent's position with two new positions, a chief academic officer, Deidre Fambry, and
702-588: Is certainly bold but not very wise", commented Representative Dwight Evans , Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee and prime architect of the takeover bill. Two lawsuits were filed by the city and the Philadelphia School District in 1997 and 1998 to address what they considered inadequate funding levels. The first, filed by the school district, the city and community leaders, contended that Pennsylvania did not provide
756-525: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Wissahickon, Philadelphia Wissahickon is a neighborhood in the section of Lower Northwest Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania , United States. Wissahickon is located adjacent to the neighborhoods of Roxborough and Manayunk , and it is bounded by the Wissahickon Valley Park , Ridge Avenue, Hermit Street, and Henry Avenue. The name of
810-517: Is great disparities in school system expenditures per student. In 2000, the Philadelphia school district spent $ 6,969 a year per student. Seventy percent of Philadelphia's students are at or near the poverty line. This contrasts with expenditures per student in wealthier suburban school districts, such as Jenkintown School District ($ 12,076), Radnor Township School District ($ 13,288), and Upper Merion School District ($ 13,139). In February 1998, then-superintendent David Hornbeck threatened to close
864-511: Is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia . Established in 1818, it is largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-largest school district in the nation, serving over 197,000 students as of 2022. The school board was created in 1850 to oversee the schools of Philadelphia. The Act of Assembly of April 5, 1867, designated that
918-619: Is the sole school district in Philadelphia , the nation's sixth-largest city as of 2020 census. Prior to August 2012, the district was organized into academic division (AD) offices, each with its own assistant superintendent. As a part of the Chief Academic Office Reorganization/Transition Proposal, the AD structure was abolished. Schools are organized into Principal Learning Teams (PLTs), each with its own peer-selected coordinator and all schools now report to
972-564: The NAACP vowed "... to shut down the streets", in protest. Members of the NAACP and a group of black ministers blocked an intersection in front of City Hall during rush-hour traffic. The day before, several hundred students walked out of classes. And earlier a crowd consisting mostly of unionized district employees marched on City Hall, where they disrupted the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and drowned out
1026-470: The Wissahickon station. The station was once home to a building designed by the renowned architect Frank Furness ; however, the building was later demolished. Improvements were made to the existing station, and during Summer 2016, local artist and Moore College of Art & Design faculty member, David Guinn painted a mural on a retaining wall running along the outbound platform of the station, coordinated by
1080-651: The Wissahickon Farm School See also [ edit ] USS Wissahickon , disambiguation Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Wissahickon . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wissahickon&oldid=1238943618 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1134-410: The "friendly" state takeover of the district, with the promise of additional funding from the state. In June 2000, under increasing pressure to find a solution to the fiscal and academic problems facing the district, school superintendent David W. Hornbeck ended his six-year tenure. Hornbeck said he did not have the financial support of state and city officials to continue his school reform program (and
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#17328489232941188-671: The Acceleration Network for schools receiving additional intervention support to improve academics, the Innovation Network that includes criteria-based schools, and the Opportunity Network that includes alternative and contract-based schools that offer targeted programming to smaller groups of high need students. SDP leadership also includes Associate Superintendents of School Performance, who support either Elementary or Secondary schools. This leadership structure aligns to
1242-630: The Camac, Dobson, Salaignac, and Wetherill families – along the Wissahickon Creek. Grand single-detached and semi-detached homes with ample side and rear yards were built, creating "a unique park side Victorian wonderland." The neighborhood was considered a highly desirable place to live as it had proximity to the Wissahickon Valley, tree-lined streets, new sewers and water services, and grand homes in high Victorian styling. Taking into consideration
1296-657: The Chief Academic Office through the Office of School Performance Management. The School District of Philadelphia is governed by a nine-member board of education. All members are appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia and approved by Philadelphia City Council . The board of education was re-established in July 2018 after seventeen years of governance by a School Reform Commission. In 1967, high school students demonstrated in front of
1350-558: The Controllers of the Public Schools of Philadelphia were to be appointed by the judges of the Court of Common Pleas . There was one Controller to be appointed from each ward. This was done to eliminate politics from the management of the schools. Eventually, the management of the school district was given to a school board appointed by the mayor . This continued until 2001 when the district
1404-470: The School District of Philadelphia's 5 year strategic plan. "Accelerate Philly: 2023-2028 Strategic Plan" focuses on "Centering schools and school leadership teams as the units of change", according to its Theory of Action. Under the strategic plan, the district allows principals to hire teachers and staff and create incentives for high-performing teachers and schools, such as tenure. The district also created tracking tools, and performance indicators, to gauge
1458-472: The School District of Philadelphia, and are accountable to it. Enrollment in Philadelphia's district schools was 203,225 students as of September 2019. As of the 2014–2015 school year, there were 107 languages other than English spoken at home by district students. The largest group of students with families using languages other than English at home was the Spanish speakers, with 6,260 students, making up 52% of
1512-552: The Wissahickon Branch, located at Manayunk Avenue and Osborn Street, opened in 1909 and was built on land donated by the Pencoyd Iron Works. It was the ninth Andrew Carnegie -funded Free Library branch designed by the architectural firm of Whitfield and King and featured a main reading room, a children's room which also served as a lecture room seating 100, and a basement consisting of a boiler room, coal bin , staff room,
1566-534: The Wissahickon Gateway Plan, the plan's proposals to expand the transfer station, improve Ridge Avenue, extend the Schuylkill River Trail , and introduce new development (including shops, offices, and apartments) were met with mixed reviews. The local civic association is called Wissahickon Interested Citizen's Association (WICA). The association was instrumental in preparing and implementing
1620-652: The Wissahickon Interested Citizen's Association, Mural Arts Program, and Cook-Wissahickon School. The neighborhood is also served by bus routes 9, 27, and 65. The Wissahickon Transportation Center offers connecting service to routes 1, 9, 27, 35, 38, 61, 62, 65, 124, 125, & R. Plans for renovating the Wissahickon Transportation Center were released in 2018 by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Called
1674-603: The area. The school was built in 1968 at the corner of East Salaignac and Righter Streets to replace the aging Cook Public School and the Wissahickon School. The former Wissahickon School, built in 1887, was located at the north east corner of (then) Ridge Avenue and Kalos Street, now the site of LaNoche Park. Residents zoned to Cook-Wissahickon are zoned to Roxborough High School . Free Library of Philadelphia operates its Roxborough Branch, serving Wissahickon, at 6245 Ridge Avenue at Hermitage Street. A prior library,
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1728-482: The board of education building, demanding better treatment, especially for African-American students, and better funding. The demonstrators were met with force by the Philadelphia Police Department, and the resulting riot left 22 injured and 57 arrested. The state takeover of the district had its roots in the chronic low test scores of district students and a history of inequitable financing which left
1782-892: The borough of Ambler Wissahickon (house) , a historic apartment building in Philadelphia Wissahickon School District , in Montgomery County Wissahickon (SEPTA station) , a passenger rail station in Northwest Philadelphia Wissahickon Skating Club , a non-profit skating club in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia Wissahickon Valley Park , in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia USRC Wissahickon (1904) , one of two Winnisimmet-class harbor tugs Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences , formerly known as
1836-476: The budget even though it was less than what was requested by the community. The community celebrated this victory that they achieved through nonviolent protest. However, by the time school was starting in August, the safety staff had not been hired back. On August 14, over one hundred community members resumed the hunger strike for a twenty four-hour period. As a result, most of the staff was rehired. Beginning in 2001
1890-586: The choir with their chants. On December 21, 2001, Secretary Charles Zogby of the Pennsylvania Department of Education signed a Declaration of Distress for the district. This triggered the state takeover of the school district from the City of Philadelphia . The state of Pennsylvania formed the School Reform Commission to oversee the troubled public school system. This action was the result of
1944-479: The city's schools if the state did not provide the funds needed to balance his proposed budget. State lawmakers responded to the threat with fast-moving legislation, Act 46, on April 21, approving a school funding package that included a takeover plan. The legislature's plan was a reaction to Hornbeck's threatening to shut down the schools because of a financial crisis. "Holding students and their parents and teachers hostage in an effort to gain additional funding
1998-458: The district required all schools to enact school uniforms or strict dress codes. Some schools had already adopted uniforms prior to 2001. Each school in the School District of Philadelphia is part of a learning network that is led by an Assistant Superintendent, to whom school principals report. SDP learning networks include geography-based learning networks that are numbered (13 during the 2023-2024 school year). SDP learning networks also include
2052-472: The district with substantial and perpetual deficits. In 1975, Pennsylvania provided 55 percent of school funding statewide; in 2001 it provided less than 36 percent. An analysis determined that increased district spending was limited by a state system which relies heavily on property taxes for local school funding. As a result, wealthier school districts with proportionately more property owners and more expensive real estate have more funds for schools. The result
2106-484: The district's central administration. In the end, the city put up an additional $ 45 million for the schools instead of the $ 15 million initially offered and the state provided an additional $ 75 million. In return, the mayor gets to appoint two commission members rather than just one under the governor's initial plan. The schools were clearly failing, but the state and the city could not agree on reform and local governance issues. As negotiation continued,
2160-483: The district's lowest-performing schools. To date, the schools managed by private providers were doing neither better nor worse than district-wide achievement trends. District-managed schools given additional resources but no specific intervention were likewise doing about as well as other schools in the district. In contrast, district-managed schools given additional resources and a "restructuring" intervention showed larger achievement gains in mathematics. In June 2013,
2214-490: The four Census Block Groups that mostly comprise the area (BG0209001, BG0209002, BG0209003, and BG0211001), as of the 2010 Census, the Wissahickon neighborhood had roughly 3,163 residents, 1,520 households, and 659 families. The racial makeup of Wissahickon was roughly 87.48% White/Caucasian, 6.32% Black or African-American, 2.84% Asian, 2.75% two or more races, .41% some other race, and .18% were American Indian/Alaska Native. Native or Latino people of any race were roughly 2.87% of
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2268-458: The management of some of the lowest-achieving schools to for-profit and nonprofit organizations and two local universities and providing additional resources to the private managers. The most controversial of the 2001 reforms the partnership program saw "educational management organizations" (EMOs) Edison Schools , Foundations Inc., Victory Schools, Universal Companies, Temple University , and University of Pennsylvania brought in to manage some of
2322-407: The most radical reform ever undertaken in a large urban school district. This move was opposed by Mayor John F. Street and many members of the city of Philadelphia. The negotiations dragged on because of the state's insistence that the city pay its fair share, while the city fought to retain some control over the governance. Also at stake was the control of patronage jobs controlled by the mayor in
2376-633: The neighborhood is derived from the Lenni Lenape word wisameckham , for "catfish creek", a reference to the fish that were once plentiful in the Wissahickon Creek . The village of Wissahickon was founded by officials of the Pencoyd Iron Works in the late nineteenth century. Beginning in the 1880s, growing numbers of mill owners and wealthy business owners from neighboring Manayunk sought elegant homes on ample lots; they set their eyes on land previously owned by prominent Philadelphia families – including
2430-399: The population. Of the roughly 1,520 households, 15% had children under the age of 18 living with them. Roughly 44.10% of the residents were between 18 and 34 years old, 33.10% between 35 and 64 years old, 12.64% are under 18 years old, and 10.14% are over 65 years old. The School District of Philadelphia operates public schools. Cook-Wissahickon School is a K-8 grade school located in
2484-481: The progress of schools and how schools affect student achievement. The district increased the staff and accessibility of its call centers to provide services and allow parents and the community to report directly to the headquarters. The district's many parent and community engagement policies are combined in a central office called the Office of Parent Family, Community, Engagement, and Faith-Based Partnerships. Between 2004 and 2009, outside funding for parent engagement
2538-469: The quality education they deserved. In 2010, School Advisory Councils (SACs) were modeled after the PA Governor's Institute of Parental Involvement to invite parents, family, and community members to share decision-making with school-based staff. The Parent University of Philadelphia offered a variety of free courses to parents, such as basic computer skills, lessons on the legal rights of parents, English as
2592-414: The school district cut over three thousand employees. Two thousand and two of them were aides that ensured the safety of the students during the school day. This budget cut angered parents, students, and employees. Governor Corbett had until the end of the month to approve the budget, so many took to protesting outside his office. UNITE HERE , the union which represented the laid off workers, helped organize
2646-432: The school district from handing over control of the central administration to Edison. Youth leaders were ultimately successful in preventing a takeover of the central office, and also prevented the take-over of any high schools by for-profit companies. As of 2007 the company had not delivered the promised improvements. After the state takeover, the district adopted what is known as the "diverse provider" model, turning over
2700-519: The school district's other than English at home population. The other languages, in descending order, were Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Khmer, various English and Haitian Creole, French-Base Creole and Pidgins, Russian, French, Portuguese, Nepali, Cantonese Chinese, Pashto, Malayalam, Ukrainian, Albanian, Bengali, and 82 other languages. Enrollment in the city's charter schools was 60,774 students (December 2013). The School District of Philadelphia
2754-537: The state funds the Philadelphia school district. In a study released in July by the Harvard Civil Rights Project, Pennsylvania was ranked as having the sixth most segregated schools in the United States. Under the legislation enacted in 1998, in 2001 Governor Mark Schweiker took control of the schools. The state takeover of what was then the fifth largest school district in the United States was seen as
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#17328489232942808-536: The time of the takeover, it was expected that Edison Schools, Inc. would be one of the prime beneficiaries of the partial privatization. It had been involved in developing the plan for privatization commissioned by then governor Tom Ridge . Edison was not given as many schools as it had hoped, primarily because of conflict of interest concerns Youth organizers from the Philadelphia Student Union staged protests, and engaged in civil disobedience to prevent
2862-821: Was provided by the William Penn Foundation for the Parent Leadership Academy (PLA) and The PA Department of Education for the Parent Volunteers Program (PVP). The district has implemented various different programs to engage families in the education of their children. In collaboration with the PA Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC), the district designated October as Parent Appreciation Month beginning in 2006. Parent Appreciation Month activities included Parent Appreciation Day, Superintendent's Closet Fashion Shows, Take
2916-614: Was taken over by the state, and the governor was given the power to appoint a majority of the five members of the new School Reform Commission. In July 2018, the School Reform Commission (SRC) was disbanded and control of the district was returned to the city and its newly selected Philadelphia School Board. The School District of Philadelphia operates 151 elementary and K-8 schools , 16 middle schools, and 57 high schools. The remaining 83 public schools are independently operated charter schools. Charter schools are authorized by
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