South Philly Review

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“You don’t take a school that has this kind of data and close it; you replicate it,” parent Temwa Wright said Monday at Edwin M. Stanton School, 1700 Christian St.

Despite making Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act for the last eight years and having 80 percent of learners obtain advanced or proficient reading or math scores on 2010’s Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the South of South institution could close come June, according to the Nov. 2 Facilities Master Plan unveiling.

The proposal’s 31 recommendations to the School Reform Commission will include selling surplus property — including Queen Village’s Monroe Administrative Building, 427 Monroe Ave., reconfiguring grades and closing schools, according to the district’s website. Old buildings, budget woes and decreased enrollment have surfaced as the chief instigators of the prompts, with its advanced age and low registration seeming to make Stanton an easy choice for officials. Proud of its academic and cultural successes, the Stanton family wants to last at least another 86 years.

“Our children are strong,” first-year principal Stacey Burnley said of her nearly 250 pupils.

The site faced similar obstacles in 2003, as shifts in demographics and the advance of the charter school wave almost led the district to make Stanton a numbers casualty. In its heyday, the school would welcome 600 to 800 eager learners, yet no matter the sizes of rosters, impressive results have occurred and enduring partnerships have resulted.

Burnley distributed a letter from Acting Superintendent Leroy D. Nunery II that said the verdict should come no later than spring. The district began to plot the plan last year, as it is hoping to reach 85 percent capacity in its schools by ’14.

If the commission approves of the nine closure selections, the rate will hit 71 percent, a 3 percent addition to the current mark and will reduce excess capacity — the amount of unused seats that declining student populations have caused — by 14,000.

The lone local body recommended to cease operations, Stanton could have had company, as suspicion ran high that George W. Nebinger School, 601 Carpenter St., and Horace Furness High School, 1900 S. Third St., where Burnley served as assistant principal for two years, might give the area a trio of potential victims. Any closure could likely save the district $500,000 to $1 million annually before tabulations of costs to oversee the empty spaces and relocate students and staff occur, according to published reports.

The plan wants elementary schools to serve between 450 and 800 students. Well short of that range, Stanton could soon part with its compact yet diligent set of minds. The district offers Chester A. Arthur School, 2000 Catharine St., and George W. Childs School, 1599 Wharton St., as next steps, but Burnley wants the students’ commitment and parental involvement to work to override the proposal. The plan, for example, decried unused space in schools, but, even without high enrollment, Stanton has no such problem.

“I don’t operate like that,” Burnley said of being reluctant to join Stanton because of its long-jeopardized future. “My jobs are to ensure my children do not miss a beat and that they receive the experiences they are entitled to.”

She is choosing to see the plan’s proposal for what it is, an idea. Parents and students have spoken with her to articulate concerns, with hopes the the Stanton spirit will not subside topping talks.

“We are committed to proving, as we have always been, that our school is a thriving location,” the New Jersey resident said.

Monday afternoon’s activity offered further proof of Burnley’s claims. Sixteen cultural arts programs, many under the watchful eye of former Stanton teacher Susan Kettell, keep creativity constantly circulating through the classrooms. To students ages 12 and older, The Art Sanctuary, 628 S. 16th St., offers dance, poetry and spoken word workshops and teams with The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad St., to provide guitar, percussion and voice lessons. Bainbridge House, 1520 Christian St., a faith-based organization of which Kettell is a member, has assisted Stanton in multiple capacities, including purchasing instruments, for more than 15 years.

“The district talks about schools’ needs to secure private funds,” Kettell said. “We have been acquiring them for years.”

Four participants from the Drumming Circle, including eighth-grader Nagee Graves, who gave a brief speech at last week’s commission meeting, thumped beats on African djembe drums. Three violinists, including Wright’s sixth-grade daughter Evelyn, followed with their compositions.

The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, 901 S. Broad St., has sent juniors dubbed “CAPA Caravan” to Stanton since 2004 where they perform skits and discuss anti-violence, books, friendships and the importance of school. Stanton’s two first-grade classes gathered for Duck, Duck, Goose. More teenagers read and staged “Goldilocks and The Three Bears” for third graders, while a third group led fourth graders in a “We read to succeed” chant.

“Don’t I have the best job?” Burnley asked as the fourth graders’ voices eclipsed their elders’ pitches.

The master plan did not make individual itemizations in choosing the schools, but Stanton did not merit a recommendation academically. At the grade school level, the PSSA tests third through eighth grades, and on last year’s examination, Stanton’s students topped or tied the district’s grade averages in nine of 12 categories.