Although only a skeleton of steel and concrete now, the new Penn-assisted pre-K-8 school rising from the ground at 43rd and Locust streets is seen by many as a national model for public education reform.
But others simply view it as their child's school.
"I think that it is exciting for me, as someone who lives directly across the street from the new school, to have this opportunity," said Amy Neukrug, whose daughter will be attending kindergarten at the Penn-assisted school this fall.
This public school, which will have a partial opening in September for kindergarten and first grade, is the result of a one-of-a-kind partnership between Penn, the Philadelphia School District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. The basis of it emerged nearly six years ago as part of the Spruce Hill Community Renewal Plan, which identified education as a necessary component to improve the neighborhoods adjacent to Penn's campus.
Other facets of this strategy included increased levels of safety and sanitation, housing improvements and economic and retail development, but "everyone believed -- from every community group that we talked to -- that none of that would be successful if we didn't have really strong schools," University President Judith Rodin said.
"We felt it was a more community-based initiative to develop a public school that provided access for everyone who lived in the neighborhood than to have a private school or a Penn-assisted charter school," Rodin said. "We wanted to reinforce access and make a statement about a commitment to public education."
At a time when the school district is facing a ballooning deficit, Penn is providing a 10-year renewable operating subsidy of $1,000 per enrolled student to enable smaller-than-typical class sizes. The school will have a capacity of 700 students.
And although the school district will be funding the school's estimated $21 million construction cost, Penn is making the land available under a long-term lease for an annual fee of one dollar. Also involved is the Graduate School of Education, which is taking an active hand in setting up and administrating the school, as well as providing learning opportunities for both Penn students and professional educators alike.
"That's the kind of partnership that certainly the school district would like to see for more of our schools," City Education Secretary Debra Kahn said.
However, some in the community have felt otherwise, believing that the Penn-assisted school would draw scarce resources away from other neighborhood schools. But other residents find the different educational option to be a boon.
"The creation of this school highlighted the defects of the schools surrounding it, which turned out to be a plus for all of the area's schools -- otherwise they were screaming in the wind," said Barry Grossbach, executive vice president of the Spruce Hill Community Association.
To help other area schools, such as the Lea Elementary School at 47th and Locust streets, Penn has been active in using its own dollars, as well as in securing grants from corporations. Toyota has funded a new library, while Lucent Technologies has supported teacher training.
Overall, all 25 elementary, middle and high schools in the University City and West Philadelphia academic areas have received assistance from Penn or its partners since 1998. Other programs made possible by these monies include an enhanced science education initiative for the elementary and middle schools and career development programs in the two neighborhood high schools.
"What made Walnut Hill very happy is the fact that Penn is assisting some of the other schools that are in the area," said Betty Reavis, president of the Walnut Hill Community Association.
Eventually, Rodin hoped that Penn's early efforts will make the environment more attractive for outside investors.
"Our effort in everything we've done in West Philadelphia is to provide resources for things to take route -- to be the first money in where others were fearful of treading," Rodin said.
However, not all of the contributions can be easily measured. Although many community members want to see a dollar value attached to all of the supplemental programs, Penn Special Projects Coordinator Lucy Kerman said that due to the amount of volunteer time put in by students, faculty and staff, such a number might miss the point.
"I'm not sure if quantifying it with dollars gets at the real value and the amount of work that's going on," Kerman said. "But if you counted the number of faculty and staff involved in these schools, it would be a huge investment."
Another item of contention for the yet unnamed new school was determining what students would be allowed to attend. Although a lottery had been suggested at one point, it was determined that a defined catchment area --ÿstretching roughly from Sansom Street to Woodland Avenue, and from 40th to 47th streets -- would be the better answer.
One of the goals of such a base area -- which was determined by the school district -- was to relieve overcrowding at nearby Lea and Wilson elementary schools, while another was to be demonstrative of the community that it serves.
According to Frank Murphy, president of the Squirrel Hill Community Association, "this means that it would have a predominate African-American school population... and that it would have a high percentage of low-income children."
"In other words, so it wouldn't become a wealthy, racially segregated school," said Murphy, who is also principal of the Meade Elementary School.
Presently, more than half of the school's 120 slots for kindergarten and first grade are filled, with classes to be held in the former Philadelphia Divinity School buildings until the new facility on the same site is completed next year. The children so far hail from 14 different countries, and are not dominated by any one race, with whites, African-Americans and Asian-Americans each comprising one-third of the school's make-up.
"So far it's been very well-rounded, which shows that there's a huge buy-in by everybody," GSE planning coordinator Ann Kreidle, who is in charge of registration, said. "It hasn't been dominated by any one group."
Such a sense of openness was also integral throughout the planning process of the new school, which began in 1998. Three planning committees -- focusing on educational programming, community programming and the facility and site -- were formed, and in October 1999 they brought forth the report that laid the foundation for the new school.
Nearly 70 area residents and representatives from organizational stakeholders were involved with these committees, as well as with the two separate panels formed to select the principal and the teachers. But despite this seeming comprehensiveness, the committee members were cognizant of the fact that some opinions were undoubtedly missed.
"We all felt that we represented a particular aspect of the community, but to think that we're a monolithic community is ridiculous," said Kathleen Ward-Gaus, a Penn health educator and co-chair of the community programming committee.
However, while some in the community have said that efforts by Penn, the school district and the teachers' union to invite community discourse were lacking, others felt that the opportunity was there for the taking.
"Those who wanted to be involved were involved from the very beginning," Grossbach said.
The larger community of the city is hoped to benefit from the new school as well. Besides teachers from throughout the school district being able to take advantage of the Penn-assisted school's professional development opportunities, the new educational choice might also be enough of a reason to keep some city parents from fleeing to the suburbs in search of a better education for their children.
"Many people in this community who never thought that public education would be an option for them were suddenly faced with the idea that public school would really be an option for them," Amy said, who was a member of the principal selection committee.
Area resident Howard Neukrug, a member of the facility and site committee, said that while he lamented the loss of greenspace and trees to make way for the new school, he hoped that its presence would fill a social void in the neighborhood.
"It's a real stress on the community, just seeing that they're aren't many eight-year-olds, 10-year-olds, or 12-year-olds running around the streets here," Howard said, adding that the loss includes parents "who are in the prime of their working career and who are a needed addition to the community."
But when the first class at the Penn-assisted school is called to order in 49 days, those in the community who had hoped for change may begin to see their wishes come true.
