11 Masterman students jumped outside school

Parents and students at Philadelphia's top academic school, Julia R. Masterman Middle and High School, are demanding greater police presence following the attack of several students yesterday.

The violence, which occurred at 4:30 p.m. across the street from the school, left three students injured, one with a bloody head wound which required him to be rushed by ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital.

"These kids are dedicated to excellence. All they want to do is learn and succeed. We can't allow anything or anyone to prevent that. We just can't have that," said Ed Green, whose 17-year-old daughter was with the students who were attacked.

Green, who teaches at another city school, Kensington Culinary Arts High School, said he wanted a greater show of city police around the Center City school, starting today.

"What I want the city to do is protect these kids, coming and going to and from school," Green said while standing in front of the school, which in November was ranked the nation's 53rd best public high school by U.S. News and World Report magazine.

"Something needs to be done in this city. You send your kids out to school thinking they're going to be safe. He's very upset and distraught," Theresa Wells said of her son, A.J., 17, who was also with the students who were attacked.

"It's nothing you can do. It's never gonna change," A.J., a senior, said of the attack. "That's the way life is in Philadelphia."

Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the Philadelphia School District, said the attack occurred as 11 Masterman students were filming a school project at 17th and Spring Garden streets, which is in sight of Masterman and directly in front of Community College of Philadelphia.

The students were approached by as many as 15 unknown teens, some of whom began asking the Masterman students questions about their identities, leading the students to believe a case of mistaken identity was unfolding.

"One kid punched the other kid, and at that point a fight broke out," Gallard said.

One Masterman student, a 17-year-old male, was struck in the face and head, causing him to fall and strike his head on concrete, witnesses said.

That student, whose full name was not available, was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The attackers wore white shirts and khaki pants, the same colors worn by students at Benjamin Franklin High School, about a block from Masterman.

Gallard, however, said he could not confirm that the attackers were from that school. He said that starting today more city and school district police officers will be on duty around Masterman, a 5th- through 12th-grade academic magnet school that draws students from around the city.

Though witnesses said police took at least three young males into custody, the Daily News could not confirm that last night.

Veronica Joyner, founder of the nearby Mathematics Civics and Sciences Charter School, said Franklin students had attacked one of her students two weeks ago, requiring him to get three stitches under an eye.

"Both of these students you can see that they're not the run-of-the-mill student with the baggy pants hanging down with the hoodies on," Joyner said. "They don't possess some of the thuggish tendencies. So those are the ones that become the targets." *