City and school district officials have  reached an agreement to keep gyms and theaters in public schools open on afternoons and weekends. Cost-cutting plans announced amid the district’s $61 million shortfall included closing the facilities at the end of the school day.

Forty-eight schools will keep their extra-curricular doors open after hours through Saturday, March 17, according to Thursday’s announcement from the city. Twenty-five of those schools are in the Northeast: continue reading »

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has released its annual list of Persistently Dangerous Schools.

While the School District of Philadelphia cut its number of dangerous schools by almost half in the last year, 10 high schools remain on the list. And four of them are in the Northeast.

Fels, Frankford, Lincoln and Northeast high schools all meet the state qualifications for the list, based on the variety and number of violent incidents among students during the school year. These four were on the 2011-2012 list, and all made the list in 2009-2010. Harding Middle School also made the 2009-10 list, but has since dropped off.

A Fels High School student died Thursday as the result of a shooting for which he may not have been the intended target.

Ahmad Dotson, 16, was shot in the chest around 9 p.m. Thursday on the 900-block of Anchor Street near Summerdale Avenue. The high school junior was on his way to meet his twin brother when a shooter described as a high school-aged male, opened fire. continue reading »

Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Inquirer

A Fels High School student was killed Tuesday afternoon, just weeks before her graduation and college career.

Madina Sem, 18, got off the bus at 2nd and Olney streets around 4 p.m. Tuesday. As she turned the corner nearing her house, Sem was struck by an out of control vehicle that had been hit by another. continue reading »

Runners from several area high schools – including Frankford and Fels – competed in Tuesday’s meet at Belmont Plateau. No team rosters were available, so if you or someone you know is in these photos, send us an e-mail with their name(s). The Fels runner (top) finished before his Frankford competitors (bottom). continue reading »

The Fels High School football team won its first game of the season Friday, 42-12, against Edison, who had the home field advantage.

Panthers' defensive lineman, senior Quamee Townsend (55), prepares to bring down Edison's Johnathan Mitchell (20). Yes, that tackle was made quite a ways downfield after Mitchell had broken free of half dozen Fels would-be tacklers.

Blanketed by four Fels defensemen, it was Fels' Desmond Strickland (30) who wrapped up Edison's Tyree Kirkland (23) for a loss of yards.

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Here’s a summary of the week’s Northeast news we didn’t cover. See others here.

Tony Danza started his English-teaching gig at Northeast High on Tuesday. He’s filming Teach, an A&E reality show, at the school. Danza is not certified to teach, but does have a degree in history education. You can hear about his experience on his blog.

Keep reading for a new AT&T High Tech Store, new high school buildings, and more. continue reading »

Here’s a summary of the week’s Northeast news we didn’t cover. See others here.

This week’s Philadelphia Weekly cover story provided an in-depth look into a growing problem in Philadelphia high schools: assaults on Asian students. Author George Miller talked to students and staff members from some of the schools with the more obvious problems — one being Fels High School in Lawncrest. Fels recently made the state’s Persistently Dangerous Schools list.

Keep reading for a visit from a Flyer, two major milestones and more. continue reading »

Northwood Civic Association President Barry Howell recaps the group's progress since the last meeting.

Northwood residents voted unanimously last night to back up a decision made by the Northwood Civic Association to allow a new school on the property of Friends Hospital.

Civic Association President Barry Howell led the meeting, at the end of which, the 20 residents in attendance supported the association’s backing of Camelot School’s new Excel Academy. Already built but waiting for finishing touches, the facilities are located on the south side of the Friends Hospital property in the old crisis center of the Webster building.

Todd Bock, senior vice president for education services at Camelot, a private company that oversees several other schools in Philadelphia in addition to Excel, addressed residents’ concerns about the schools. Many feared the school could bring more unruly teenagers through the neighborhood.

“This is not Shallcross,” Bock reassured attendees, who fear having their own version of the Parkwood-based remedial discipline school, which hosts students who’ve been expelled from other schools for things like weapon possession. (Members of the Parkwood Civic Association contacted Howel praising the Excel Academy, which Bock stressed is not the same as Shallcross).

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Pennsylvania recently released its list of Persistently Dangerous Schools for the 2009-2010 school year, and the top 25 are all in Philadelphia. Of those 25, five are in the Northeast.

A school is defined as persistently dangerous if it meets any of the following criteria for this year and one of the two previous years: at least five dangerous incidents in a school with enrollment of 250 or less; dangerous incidents representing 2 percent of a school’s enrollment for schools with 251 to 1,000 students; 20 or more dangerous incidents in schools with enrollments exceeding 1,000. continue reading »