Penn-assisted school set to move forward

Lack of a house did not prevent the Penn-assisted public school from holding the first in a series of open houses last week for parents of potential students. Controversy over the diversity of the school's catchment area pushed back the original groundbreaking date, which was slated for last March. Now, almost a year later, the catchment area has been drawn, and construction on the site at 42nd and Spruce streets is scheduled to begin in late February or early March. Nancy Streim, dean of the Graduate School of Education -- which will provide curricular assistance to the new school -- said she expects that a principal and a staff will be hired before the school's scheduled partial opening next fall. "We'll do our best to open up for school in September of 2001," Streim said at the open house. She said a principal will likely be hired this spring through a joint effort by the University and the Philadelphia Public School District. The school is scheduled to open in phases, with the kindergarten and first-grade classes opening in September in existing facilities. Once aboard, the principal will select a staff and curriculum for the currently unnamed school. As of now, the design of the school building has been finalized and administrators are resolving the student registration process. Penn has agreed to give $700,000 -- which breaks down to $1,000 per student -- to the new school over the next 10 years. Penn is also providing the school with land, as well as technological and teaching support from GSE. The school district, however, is funding the construction of the school. Streim said that the new school will be an important site for graduate student field exploration and for community service. In the meantime, the three organizations currently housed in the location at 42nd and Spruce streets are proceeding with plans to move to new locations. Previously expected to move in January, but hindered by continual delays, the University City New School is now anticipated to vacate its building by June 30. Despite Penn's urging, UCNS Principal Betty Ratay refused to integrate the UCNS with the Penn-assisted school. Ratay said she did not assimilate with the new public school because not all her students met the catchment area, and her teachers -- some of whom lack certification -- were not guaranteed employment. "We wanted to be free of many, many layers of bureaucracy," Ratay said. "If you govern yourself, you can make decisions that are good for you and your school." The Penn-assisted public school will occupy the UCNS building for the start of the school year in the fall. The independently-owned Parent Infant Center will remain on the site until 2002, when it will move to a renovated space. In the spring, the Penn Children's Center, a child-care facility owned by the University, will move to the ground floor of Left Bank, the luxury apartment complex still under construction at 32nd and Walnut streets. Barring future delays, all construction on the school is scheduled to end by the fall of 2003. John Overmyer, a parent whose son will attend first grade at the school in the fall, expressed his confidence that, despite bumps, construction will be completed. "Eventually it will get done," Overmyer said. "It all gets done."