A charter school’s final season | Morning Newsletter
And the Parker-Council relationship.
The Morning Newsletter
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When Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School closes this week, its student athletes are saying goodbye to not only friends and teachers, but teammates. We take a look at what their final season has been like amid a tumultuous school year.
And from a honeymoon period to a power struggle over school board nominations, we explain the phases of the mayor’s six-month relationship with City Council, according to TikTok psychology.
Here’s what you need to know today.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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The student athletes of Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School are hanging up their Mighty Elephants jerseys for good.
📣 Catch up quick: The elementary and high school at North Broad and Hamilton Streets is closing this week after nearly 25 years because its founder is retiring. The news came in October, prompting community outrage, then mourning.
👟 An extraordinary year: Though some transferred out early, many students have stayed involved in sports and extracurriculars at MCS this year — a welcome diversion from the stress of the coming change, and a chance to rep their school one more time.
🏀 In their own words: “After the [last] game, nobody was talking,” said a senior who played on the school’s basketball team. The team hoped to win the Public League championship, but lost in the semifinals. “We told each other that we loved each other and did one last hurrah. You could definitely feel the energy and how hard it was on everybody.”
Sports reporter Isabella DiAmore spoke to students and coaches about MCS’ heartfelt final season.
In Philadelphia, a good relationship between the mayor and City Council is essential to their mutual ability to get things done. And Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s first six months in office have been eventful, from the introduction and eventual passage of her first budget to a controversial Kensington crackdown.
❤️ One way to analyze how this executive-legislative relationship is faring so far? The parlance of TikTok psychologists.
❤️ For instance, that budget proposal back in March — we might call it the romance phase. No one fought (publicly) and each gave the other exactly what they wanted. They moved on to the stormier days of the power struggle phase, when Council rejected one of Parker’s school board nominees and questioned a then-vague request for $100 million.
❤️ As legislators embark on their summer break today, is the relationship back on track?
What you should know today
At least 45 unionized food workers were arrested while demonstrating outside Aramark’s Center City headquarters Wednesday, sitting in the middle of the Market Street Bridge and disrupting rush-hour traffic. Unite Here Local 274 is demanding new contracts with better wages and health benefits.
An audit from Philadelphia’s city controller found that the Department of Licenses and Inspections is failing to track dangerous buildings or recover demolition costs.
After students were moved from Frankford High last year, the school is set to reopen in 2025-26. The district will spend $20 million to address extensive asbestos damage.
Following University of the Arts fallout, state lawmakers are trying to prevent the abrupt closure of any other Pennsylvania schools with new accountability and transparency measures.
Immigrant community members in Philadelphia are worried about the effects of President Joe Biden’s new asylum restrictions: “It’s going to make it worse.”
Temple University has seen a 29% increase in deposits from first-year admitted students, a sign that may mean the beginning of an upward enrollment trend following a multiyear decline.
A legal battle is playing out over whether a Bristol native’s ex-girlfriend will inherit his million-dollar retirement account, 35 years after they broke up.
Two local icons are up for sale: Northeast Philly soft-serve stand Twistee Treat, and the closed Fishtown shop Pizza Brain’s pizza mural.
🧠 Trivia time
An eight-story building near the Camden Waterfront that was constructed as the corporate headquarters of the Victor Talking Machine Co. has now become the main U.S. office of another firm with a global reach. What did Victor manufacture in its heyday?
A) Victrolas
B) The first cell phones
C) Megaphones
D) Vinyl records
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🎉 Celebrating: Juneteenth in Philly with these celebrations, concerts, and educational events.
🍺 Trying: Garage Beer, because we love anything from the Kelce brothers.
🎩 Wondering: What’s up with Uptown Beer Garden’s dress code for Center City SIPS.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
The Northwest Philly neighborhood known for its river access, small-town feel, and one tall wall.
ANNUM YAK
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Noah Rubin, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Kahleah Copper. The North Philly native was just named to the U.S. women’s basketball Olympic team.
Photo of the day
Wishing you a calm and easy Thursday. See you back in your inbox tomorrow.
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