LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

The 2022 District-Wide Survey is open now to students in grades 3 through 12, parents and guardians, teachers, principals and assistant principals, and full-time school-based support staff. The DWS is one of the best tools we have to gather your feedback and assess your perspective on topics that impact the educational experience for students. Parents and guardians, share your thoughts here or wait for the survey to arrive in the mail. Staff can access the survey through the employee portal.

LET’S HAVE A CONVERSATION

In March, we officially launched the Facilities Planning Process (FPP), a critical component of the District’s strategic plan to provide tangible solutions to schools’ facility and utilization challenges and provide all children access to a great school. One of the most important aspects of the FPP is gaining community input and feedback. You are invited to lend your voice to the community conversations, which begin next month in May. To sign up, and to learn more about the FPP, visit here.

THEY’RE SO TALENTED!

In March, the District’s Office of Talent Support Services (TSS) was awarded the Employment and Career Development Award of Excellence by the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. The award goes to employers who “help individuals with intellectual disabilities and/or autism experience satisfaction with their work, provide enrichment at work or in volunteer activities, and promote full pay and meaningful work.” TSS was nominated by Community Integrated Services (CIS), an organization that partners with SDP to empower individuals with disabilities through employment opportunities that foster self-sustainability, equality and community.

BEST PALS

The Office of School Safety is excited to announce a new partnership with the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia (PAL) to open PAL centers in two of our neighborhood middle schools — Tilden and Roberto Clemente — with the goal to stand up one more before the school year ends. The partnership will continue the PAL legacy of providing students a safe space to exercise, socialize and build positive relationships, while integrating the Office of School Safety’s vision of promoting character development, improving educational outcomes, and fostering positive relationships between School Safety Officers, students and their surrounding communities.

WE’VE GONE GOOGLE

In case you haven’t noticed, Google has replaced Zimbra as the District email and calendar system. If you’ve missed the numerous emails, remember that your email address and password have not changed! What did change, is that now you can access your email through the employee portal. Just look for the Gmail and Google Calendar icons. Or you can login by visiting gmail.com or calendar.google.com. Visit philasd.org/google for support resources to help you perform common tasks to individualize your workflow.

NEW NAME, WHO DIS?

The students, families and staff of Fanny Jackson Coppin (FJC) School (formerly Andrew Jackson Elementary) officially celebrated their school’s new name in March. The entire community came out to celebrate including the Mayor, local elected officials, and special guests from Coppin State University and  Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Fanny Jackson served as the first African-American female principal in the US at the Philadelphia Institute for Colored Youth, which is now Cheyney University. President Anthony L. Jenkins of Coppin State University amazed students and staff alike by announcing the Philadelphia Pathway scholarship which guarantees free tuition to any graduate of FJC who attends Coppin State University in Baltimore.

VERY BARRY

Students at Barry Elementary School were surprised when the Philadelphia Eagles partnered with the American Dairy Association North East and the School District’s Division of Food Services to celebrate National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) at their school. NSBW celebrates the importance of a nutritious school breakfast in helping students achieve their best, and Barry represented the entire District and the effort to serve nearly 40,000 breakfast meals daily to Philadelphia children. The icing on the pancake was that much of the celebration took place in Barry’s brand new Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) room – a reward for the school’s recent recognition for its excellent school-wide PBIS work during the 2020-21 school year!

A LITTLE MOTIVATION

Looking for some inspiration? Look no further than Motivation High School, which was recognized as the Philadelphia Tribune’s School of the Week in March. Principal Rennu Teli-Johnson has bolstered her students’ achievement by adding a laser focus on social-emotional health and safety and relationship building among students. The school also offers a contemporary issues class where students learn how to engage others about important issues in compassionate and insightful ways, and provides classes/programming in specific topics that students have expressed interest in — from finance and investing to floor hockey. And Motivation students participate in the School District’s Relationships First program which emphasizes the importance of positive, authentic human connection. Almost makes me want to go back to high school!

THE BUZZ

Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 WHYY-Billy Penn Regional Spelling Bee! Jeremy Landau (Masterman, 8th grade) won 1st place, Eyianna Dunn (Gompers, 6th grade) won 2nd place, and the 3rd place winner was Tallulah Green Hull (Houston, 8th grade). The three winners will represent Philly at the Scripps National Spelling Bee this summer! Good luck!

SHE’S ON FIRE

SDP’s own Fire Safety Officer Diane Mercer was recently highlighted in Billy Penn as a trailblazer who helped shatter the ceiling for black women firefighters. When she became a firefighter in 1985, she was one of the first three women and only the second African-American woman in Philadelphia Fire Department history. In 2003, she was promoted to Lieutenant, one of PFD’s first two Black women in that position. Upon retiring from PFD in 2018, she joined the SDP team and has helped to improve our fire safety and prevention protocols. Diane officially retired from SDP yesterday. We’ve been extremely lucky to have you Diane! Thanks for everything!

SHE’S HONORED

Congratulations to Sonya Brintnall, a speech language pathologist at Greenfield Elementary School, who was recognized in February as an “Honored Innovator” by the nonprofit group Honored. Honored is an organization dedicated to elevating the teaching profession and keeping excellent teachers in classrooms by recognizing teachers across the country who are changing students’ lives. Ms. Brintnall is recognized as an educator who “went the extra mile and just kept going”  to support one of her students with special needs who needed help managing his assistive technology during remote learning. Read more of the story here. Keep up the great work Sonya!

March Teacher of the Month – Margaret Osman

Watch the video HERE.

March Senior of the Month – Jynita Woods

Profile coming soon!

March Senior of the Month – Samirah Stephens

Read her profile HERE.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is excited to announce that Affinity Groups will be kicking off in the Fall of 2022! Affinity Groups support the cultivation and sustainability of both brave and safe spaces, where members can share their feelings, thoughts, and understandings without fear of judgement by outsiders. It is a space where the “unspoken” is understood and the understood needs no validation. In preparation for kickoff this Fall, DEI’s Equity Coalition is looking for Affinity Facilitators to participate in training! Click into the Equity Coalition newsletter below and jump down to DEI Office Updates to sign up. And make sure to read the rest of the newsletter to learn about other way you can participate in Celebrate Diversity Month this April!