Experimental school gets good marks

Educators nationwide have taken interest in the school.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In science class this fall, Maxwell Gontarek has been learning about genetic engineering by observing the offspring of two zebra fish — an albino father and a wild mother.

“I’ve gone here so many years I don’t really want to leave,” said Maxwell, 12, who plays stand-up bass in music class and is one of three seventh-grade representatives on Student Council at the Penn Alexander School, a public school run in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Umar Farooqi, in his seventh-grade social studies class, has been learning about the trial and execution of Greek philosopher Socrates, convicted of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens.

“I love it. This school has good education. I love the building, and the teachers are really cool,” said Farooqi, who has two younger sisters also enrolled at Penn Alexander and an older brother who has since graduated to Central High, a top academic magnet school.

This is public education at one of Philadelphia’s most successful school “experiments.”

Since opening its doors in 2001, just before the state takeover of city schools, the K-to-eighth-grade West Philadelphia school created from scratch by the school district, the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has become a success story in its neighborhood — and a model for school reform in other cities.

Pupils interviewed said they were hooked on their school, from its engaging classroom lessons to the building’s unique design, which features plenty of windows and a sun-drenched atrium that is ringed by classrooms on three floors.

“It just has a friendly atmosphere and the learning environment is really good,” Farooqi, 12, said of the school. “It makes you feel welcome, I guess.”

Educators nationwide are hooked, too — on the school’s test scores.

UCLA called a few weeks ago. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock recently sent two representatives to check out the school at 42nd and Spruce streets. The College of Charleston and Howard University, in the nation’s capital, have also been in touch.

These universities want to understand how Penn created one of the city’s highest-performing public K-8 schools — while drawing pupils solely from the school’s surrounding neighborhood.

The latest state standardized test scores show that 81.4 percent of the school’s pupils are proficient or advanced in math, and 80.3 percent are so in reading.

By comparison, across the Philadelphia School District, 44.9 percent of pupils are on target in math and 40.6 percent in reading.

“The expectations are high and the curriculum is rigorous,” observed Sheila Sydnor, who was selected from 60 applicants to become the Penn Alexander School’s first and only principal.

“I don’t think we teach just enough. We go beyond just enough, and that has made a difference,” added the 32-year district veteran.