COLUMN: New praise for the New School

From Michael Mugmon's, "The Way Is Is," Fall '98 From Michael Mugmon's, "The Way Is Is," Fall '98Contrary to popular opinion, Penn isn't the only educational institution in West Philadelphia. If you've dared to venture beyond Penn's mythical 40th Street boundary, you might know that Shaw Middle School resides at 54th Street and Warrington Avenue -- only blocks from West Philadelphia High School at 47th and Walnut streets. And one of the area's namesake schools, University City High School, sits just south of majestic Powelton Village Victorian houses at 36th and Filbert streets. Even if you're relatively well schooled in West Philadelphia academic geography, chances are you've never heard of University City's other namesake school -- the University City New School. For a school that's quietly providing one of the finest academic experiences in the city for West Philadelphia kids, it's nothing short of a travesty that the New School might go the way of the dodo bird in only a few years -- all because of a plan to build a competing school on the Penn-owned land occupied by the New School. Although the phone book and local school guides deceptively describe the New School as a private institution, this K-8 bastion of educational excellence combines the best aspects of a personal private school education with the egalitarian practicality of a public school education. While private schools thrive on massive tuition payments and even larger donations, and while city public schools barely subsist on progressively decreasing budgets, the New School has discovered a happy, efficient medium. Located at 42nd and Locust streets and housed in a beautiful stone structure that once served as a library, the New School is a co-op school. In other words, parents and community members help out with various school tasks on a voluntary basis. Not only does such assistance let the New School administration keep tuition prices relatively low, but it also allows many students to attend the school and gain access to a quality early education. How is the New School curriculum different from private schools and public schools alike? For starters, this school prepares youngsters to think critically, forcing them to apply what they've learned. Form goes hand-in-hand with function at this place, and kids come away with a classical education in every sense of the word. They read. They write about what they've read. They learn math. They do math. They learn foreign languages. They paint. They play sports as well as musical instruments. Realistic application is the key. For example, the New School just held "Writers Week" -- five days of panels and festivities encouraging students to embrace the written word. And having participated as a panelist on a discussion of journalistic writing and the media during Writers Week, I marveled at just how bright, well-informed and enthusiastic these kids are as a whole -- a rarity in primary education these days. Why would anyone threaten this academic haven? Honestly, I don't have an answer. But the fact remains that a well-intentioned plan for a new nearby school could destroy this paradigm of pedagogical perfection. In June, Penn teamed up with the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers on a partnership to establish a neighboring University-aided public school that would essentially render the New School powerless to compete financially. While the school district would foot the pre-K-8 school's construction bill, Penn has promised to cough up $1,000 per student each year, or approximately $700,000 annually. Though the school plan also attempts to better Penn's relationship with the surrounding community through participation in "cluster boards," and though the plan provides a training ground for Graduate School of Education students, community members, New School teachers and parents have every right and every reason to be wary. It's little wonder then why community leaders under the umbrella of the University City Community Council met two weeks ago to outline their concerns, each of which is dead-on valid. First off, the proposed school would definitely infringe on the New School's mission and activities. Not only could the proposed school jeopardize the architectural integrity of the New School site, but it could jeopardize the New School itself. After all, with Penn and the school district behind the plan, what purpose would the New School serve sitting right next to a higher-profile institution? Outside of the obvious question of how the proposed school would impact the area residential community, activists, parents and teachers are correct to ask questions about the size of the area from which students will be eligible to attend the proposed school. If community leaders have tentatively accepted the idea of the school, all those concerned should demand that this "catchment" include economically depressed residential areas and ensure that minority students will have a place at the school. Ironically, the only school that already maintains genuine diversity is the New School, the institution that could face the prospects of homelessness and closure. Community leaders and New School representatives should continue to present their concerns to the University and the school district. And Penn officials must make a good-faith effort to listen to questions and resolve problems. This Penn-backed school will be built. That's merely a formality. But the University City New School -- which is already doing most of the things advocates claim the proposed school would do -- should not be made extinct simply because it's in the wrong place. And if the New School does go the way of the dodo bird, West Philadelphia primary education might follow close behind.