Philly students head back to school

Eighth graders tossed a football across the concrete schoolyard. A fourth grader broke into a dead run, intent on catching up with friends she hadn’t seen all summer. A teacher hugged a first grader with a shy smile and a giant pink backpack crammed with school supplies.

The scene at Overbrook Elementary played out across the city Monday morning as most of the Philadelphia School District’s 113,000 students returned to class for the start of the 2026-27 school year. Kindergarteners are due back Thursday.

At McClure Elementary in Hunting Park, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. repeated at a press conference his over-arching goal: for Philadelphia to become the fastest-improving big-city school district in the U.S.

The district will “double down this year to continue to drive this fast improvement, and we won’t rest until all of our children are at grade-level in reading and math,” Watlington said. According to 2024-25 state data, 34% of district students meet state standards in reading, and 23% in math. (More recent PSSAs, typically available to teachers and principals by now, have not been shared by Philadelphia leaders.)

Reginald Streater, the school board president, said improving educational outcomes is also about creating generational value.

“A student can walk through the doors, irrespective of their race, creed, class, gender, or shared ancestry, in our schools with a world of possibilities in front of them and leave those same doors with the knowledge, confidence, and opportunity to pursue the future they envision for themselves,” said Streater, father of two children in district schools. “Armed with the tools to break the bonds of generational curses and barriers designed to keep them and their ancestors and their progeny in a perpetual state of servitude and second-class citizens.”

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was not present at the district’s first-day festivities, a rarity, but Debora Carrera, her chief education officer, touted Parker’s $48 million agreement that restored some of the 340 positions that otherwise would have been axed because of budget cuts.

That was good news for Johnny Beauchamp, a single father and truck driver, who was dropping his son off for his first day at McClure.

While Beauchamp is confident the city has addressed its budgetary concerns regarding staffing and school openings, he hopes to see some initiatives on school safety.

“I’m actually more excited than he is - it’s his first day... and his bright future starts today,” Beauchamp said. “But my main concern nowadays is the safety, especially with guns and stuff like that. Also, making sure our schools are clean and sidewalks are clear of glass and other dangerous stuff where our kids are playing.”

The first-day tone was upbeat, but a bit different at Overbrook, one of the 17 schools the school board voted in April to close as part of its $3 billion, 10-year facilities plan. Overbrook is set to shut its doors permanently in June.

Overbrook is a small, high-performing school in a very old building: the school is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. Its tight-knit community wraps its arms around Overbrook and has mounted a fierce fight to keep the school open.

“Leave Overbrook alone,” said Fahmee Shabazz, dad of an Overbrook fourth grader. “Please, somebody help us.”

Teachers’ union and elected officials were on hand at Overbrook for a press conference to pledge continuing efforts to try. Multiple politicians have said they will keep the pressure up to remove Overbrook Elementary, Robeson High and Lankenau High from the district’s closing list.

“We cannot disrupt the good things that are happening here,” said State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D.., Philadelphia), chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “We cannot disrupt the good things that are happening here.”

Hughes said action needs to happen in Harrisburg to help better fund schools. But, he said, “We’re still going to fight for Overbrook Elementary and the school like it, [which] deserve to stay open.”

Last year, many Overbrook Elementary teachers used the school’s closing as an object lesson — in civics and the world around them — said Kenneth Glover, the school’s principal.

“I’m so happy that it’s day one. Like I tell my students all the time, each day is a fresh start, and this year is a fresh start. Last year, a lot of the focus was on adult issues, right, fighting to keep the school open. This year, I really want students to focus on academics...for us to just have a beautiful school year.”

While Glover said he still hoped the school could be kept open, he has begun to work with the district’s newly-created transition office to plan for what’s next.

Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said he was “was hoping that when I came here today I’d be able to say, ‘Well, we saved Overbrook from the chopping block. Unfortunately that is not the case. However, we have not given up the fight to keep Overbrook and every other school in the city open.”

Steinberg said the PFT would release a plan this week that would give the district a path to keep all 17 schools open.