South Philly Review

Vibrant colors breathe life into the halls of a once-vacant building. Each classroom is imbued with a creativity representative. The newly constructed playground, hopscotch drawings and open space outside the facility give elbow room to run around during recess.

But recently, this fenced-in area normally packed with playful kids in grades kindergarten through eighth had a wooden stage at its center and served as the site of the Independence Charter School's ribbon-cutting. More than 150 people, many community members, came out Nov. 7 to see the new inhabitant of the Thomas Durham School, which closed in 2003 after 92 years, and its revamped grounds on the corner of 16th and Lombard streets.

Pulling from all over the city, many residents -- including more than 200 students, faculty and staff from South Philly -- spend their days at the structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. With a move from Seventh and Sansom streets, Independence Charter's academic emphasis is on multiculturalism and, according to Administrative Assistant Megan Steelman of Seventh and Clymer streets, five new instructors were hired at the beginning of the school year. According to Steelman, 15 out of the 50 teachers are native Spanish speakers from countries such as Colombia, Spain and Argentina, while several more are bilingual. The goal is, by the time each child graduates, they will be bilingual, too.

The exterior of the three-story building now seems to match the interior, newly appointed Principal Stephanie Bungard said.

"I think the building is beautiful and the variety within the school is the magic potion," she said.

Filled to maximum capacity with 732 pupils, the seven-year-old charter school chose the Durham building with the expectation to expand, namely with an addition for classes, nine administrative offices and three reading classrooms and a playground. The renovations took close to a year, and included head-to-toe work from plumbing to roofing. The result is two art and music rooms, a dance and movement room and a computer lab with 25 stations.

Robin Kohles said both her children, who are in second and fourth grade, love everything about it.

"They feel partially responsible for the new school and the whole process," she said.

Senator-Elect Larry Farnese of the 1st District, who was at the ribbon-cutting, said the real benefit will be felt in the future.

"The more opportunities they have, the better equipped the children of Philadelphia will have to be successful in the workplace or to pursue higher education," he said. "We're increasing the footprints and giving more children and families the opportunity to have their kids receive a top-notch education.

"It's really a great place to learn, but it's a place for the community to gather and come together too."

One way residents joined together to improve the school, purchased "as is" from the School District of Philadelphia, was a Kaboom grant funded by SAP America Inc. and the IBM Corp. Kaboom is based in Washington, D.C., and pairs community organizations with local funders to build playgrounds. A parent's application started the process, but the children saw it to fruition. They sat in on design meetings in August and, after hours of preparation, helped complete the site in a single day. Oct. 23, more than 300 volunteers, along with City Year and The Hun School in Princeton, N.J., stepped in to help transform the grounds from concrete to a full-service playground. Yet, it's not all play at the tuition-free public charter school.

"The draw is an excellent education with a unique focus on second language acquisition and world cultures. People are coming out of the seams wanting to come to this school," Director of Development Leonora Cravotta, said citing the extensive waiting list. "It's very rewarding being around students who all like it very much."