Parallel worlds: Two schools a short journey apart
At Lower Merion, students have steady support. That's hard to sustain at Overbrook.
by Bill Hangley, Jr.
It's just a few miles from Overbrook High School (left) at 59th Street and Lancaster Avenue across City Avenue to the new building that houses Lower Merion High School.
The two schools are less than four miles apart. But what separates Lower Merion High from Overbrook High is more than distance.
On a balmy night in early September, the parents of new freshmen are streaming through Lower Merion’s gleaming glass doors. They file down the halls into a soaring auditorium that smells like a new car. There, Principal Sean Hughes welcomes them to a brand new building and a world of high expectations.
Introducing City School Stories
Evaluating the success of America’s public schools has become a national focus. Elected officials, business leaders, wealthy philanthropists, and a host of educational entrepreneurs are typically the individuals who have been most active in characterizing the performance of today’s public schools for the American media. These non-educators generally do not speak well of the effectiveness of our public schools and systems.
In August of this year I launched my own blog cityschoolstories.com