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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

District: We can create “personalized” high schools with 1,000 students | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

District: We can create “personalized” high schools with 1,000 students | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

District: We can create “personalized” high schools with 1,000 students

by Benjamin Herold on Apr 19 2011
Photo: Benjamin Herold

Taisha Martinez, a 10th grader at Kensington CAPA and a member of Youth United for Change, is one of many who fought for Philadelphia's small high schools.

Will the District’s new Facilities Master Planmean the end of Philadelphia’s small high schools?

District officials say no, describing their newly announced recommendation that high schools should have between 1,000 and 1,200 students more a guideline for consideration than a hard-and-fast rule.

There are many who will be watching closely to see if that’s true: The student organizing groups that fought hard to get small schools. Researchers who found that size does matter, at least in terms of school climate and student-teacher relationships. Taxpayers who paid the bill for the $1.7 billion capital program