The Struggles of Overbrook High School
I attended the Philly Schools Town Hall at Overbook High School on October 10, 2016 hosted by Council women Helen Gym and Principle Yvette Jackson. Its purpose was to educate parents and community members about the issues Overbrook and its students were facing and the efforts the schools administration team were taken to make improvements. Over all the Philadelphia Public High School isn’t doing too well, in the past the school has had the capacity to hold over 2,000 students at any given time. Today that number of students currently enrolled has decrease to around 500. Because the number of enrollment has dramatically decreased many believed it seemed cheap to just close the school. However, the purpose …show more content…
Once all of this data has been collected the super intended of the school district will make a ruling in regards to the best actions needed to be taken to get the school back on track. At this point no one knows what is going to happen, but they do know what possible options the superintendent may take. In the event the school fails the assessment there are four possible options in which action may be taken. Option one: the superintended may replace of the teachers and staff in hopes of brings in better qualified individuals that could improve student academics. Option two: the superintended may bring in third party investors that would take over the school, develop a new curriculum but still leave the school district control over the school. Option 3: the superintended will merge Overbrook High school with another neighborhood high school such as West Philly High in order to improve productivity. Option4: the superintended with hiring an outside source to develop a proven curriculum In which teacher and staff will be trained to implement. Principle Jackson wanted to reassure parents and community that the school would not be close and that they weren’t sure what options the superintended were going to take, but whatever was decided would make a …show more content…
I didn’t understand the town hall, because it didn’t provide a clear explanation to what was going on or to what efforts were being made to correct any issues. I had to take it upon myself to do a little research into the school past history to figure out what was going on with the school. Despite the decrease in the student population, Overbrook students are failing academically. As of now students are scoring an overall performance Math Proficiency of 12% and Reading/Language Arts Proficiency of 27%, whereas the average proficiency percentile for Pennsylvania schools is about 80% (Start class). So I began to make a connection between the lack of attendance and a lack of learning. I wanted to know why are these students not coming to school and or why aren’t they able to learn if they do show up. I decided to search the internet to see what I could find and it the picture became clear became https://youtu.be/-Q1q31jkukc I found a link on YouTube were students were interviewed about the issues they faced going to Overbrook high school. They didn’t feel safe, students are fighting in class with other students and or with other teachers https://youtu.be/2D5z2ZmGFFE https://youtu.be/2D5z2ZmGFFE .How can students learn and grow in an unsafe environment? According to Principle Jackson, the school has seen its fair share of misconduct. As a result the school has a
I attended the Philly Schools Town Hall at Overbook High School on October 10, 2016 hosted by Council women Helen Gym and Principle Yvette Jackson. Its purpose was to educate parents and community members about the issues Overbrook and its students were facing and the efforts the schools administration team were taken to make improvements. Over all the Philadelphia Public High School isn’t doing too well, in the past the school has had the capacity to hold over 2,000 students at any given time. Today that number of students currently enrolled has decrease to around 500. Because the number of enrollment has dramatically decreased many believed it seemed cheap to just close the school. However, the purpose …show more content…
Once all of this data has been collected the super intended of the school district will make a ruling in regards to the best actions needed to be taken to get the school back on track. At this point no one knows what is going to happen, but they do know what possible options the superintendent may take. In the event the school fails the assessment there are four possible options in which action may be taken. Option one: the superintended may replace of the teachers and staff in hopes of brings in better qualified individuals that could improve student academics. Option two: the superintended may bring in third party investors that would take over the school, develop a new curriculum but still leave the school district control over the school. Option 3: the superintended will merge Overbrook High school with another neighborhood high school such as West Philly High in order to improve productivity. Option4: the superintended with hiring an outside source to develop a proven curriculum In which teacher and staff will be trained to implement. Principle Jackson wanted to reassure parents and community that the school would not be close and that they weren’t sure what options the superintended were going to take, but whatever was decided would make a …show more content…
I didn’t understand the town hall, because it didn’t provide a clear explanation to what was going on or to what efforts were being made to correct any issues. I had to take it upon myself to do a little research into the school past history to figure out what was going on with the school. Despite the decrease in the student population, Overbrook students are failing academically. As of now students are scoring an overall performance Math Proficiency of 12% and Reading/Language Arts Proficiency of 27%, whereas the average proficiency percentile for Pennsylvania schools is about 80% (Start class). So I began to make a connection between the lack of attendance and a lack of learning. I wanted to know why are these students not coming to school and or why aren’t they able to learn if they do show up. I decided to search the internet to see what I could find and it the picture became clear became https://youtu.be/-Q1q31jkukc I found a link on YouTube were students were interviewed about the issues they faced going to Overbrook high school. They didn’t feel safe, students are fighting in class with other students and or with other teachers https://youtu.be/2D5z2ZmGFFE https://youtu.be/2D5z2ZmGFFE .How can students learn and grow in an unsafe environment? According to Principle Jackson, the school has seen its fair share of misconduct. As a result the school has a