Penn Alexander registration deadline moved to Monday

The deadline for registration at the Penn Alexander School has been moved up to Feb. 11 at 5 p.m.

Superintendent for Philadelphia Public Schools William Hite made it clear to parents in a meeting on Jan. 22 that the district intended to go ahead with its plan for a lottery system.

After 70 parents had lined up for kindergarten registration four days before the original first-come, first-serve registration deadline, the school district decided to implement a lottery — upsetting many parents who had been waiting to secure their child’s education.

A committee of several parents met with the school district on Feb. 7 and the new deadline was announced on Thursday.

Registration will take into account all students within the “catchment zone” — a chunk of West Philadelphia stretching south from Sansom Street to Chester Avenue. and west from 40th to 47th streets.

Parents must submit an application for their child by the end of business hours on Monday. There will no be preference given to children whose siblings already attend the Penn Alexander School.

Parents whose children are not accepted at the Penn Alexander School can apply to transfer to another district school. The deadline for voluntary transfer is Feb. 15.

The Penn Alexander School — formed in a partnership between Penn and the Philadelphia School District — boasts consistently high test scores, but at the moment only has four kindergarten classes with 72 students. Though the fourth class was added by Penn last April, the school is not showing signs of expanding any further.

When PAS was formed in 1998, property values within the catchment zone skyrocketed.

Since then, many families have been voicing concerns about the lottery system.

In some cases, if parents aren’t able to get their child into the Penn Alexander School , they may have to move to find better opportunities.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.