Let Memphis Street Academy continue to thrive

Imagine living in a neighborhood with a constant fear of destruction of property. On many Philadelphia streets this is the norm.

A few years ago, in certain sections of Kensington, residents feared even leaving a flower pot on their stoop, not because of neighborhood gangs but because of the destructive behavior from the middle-school students who attended J.P. Jones.

Think about a school where police officers were stationed at every corner, every day, during dismissal in order to try to keep the peace between hundreds of students, many prone to getting in street wide brawls. This was the situation at what is currently Memphis Street Academy.

When schools find themselves in this situation, the district gets involved. Under the Renaissance Initiative, troubled schools are turned over to education management organizations tasked with improving the climate, the culture, and academics.

Chosen to manage Jones in May 2012 was American Paradigm Schools (APS), an organization that has successfully turned around three other district schools since 2011. When APS was given responsibility for Jones, their charge was to salvage what had become one of the most perpetually violent schools in the state.

After cosmetic renovations to the building and a name change to the Memphis Street Academy, then CEO Christine Borelli was ready to meet the challenge of a turnaround school head on. Removing security bars from the windows and metal detectors were just the first steps in a long transformation.

Knowing that change doesn't happen overnight, APS carefully implemented measures to hold students accountable for their behavior, installed security cameras, and began to introduce new partnerships with community organizations such as the New Kensington Community Development Center, Sunday Suppers, and the Vetri Foundation. These efforts gradually established an environment that was conducive to teaching and learning.

To reinforce positive behavior, Memphis Street Academy changed the rules. To eliminate a mass exodus of unruly students at the end of the day, the school staggered dismissal times by grade, and asked teachers to escort their students not just to the door - but to the edge of the property, or to the corner, or to the bus stop. Some went even farther. Even today, teachers still ride the bus with their students up Allegheny Avenue to make sure they get home safely and without incident.

By spring of the first year the chaos of dismissal was under control, and staff and teachers began to work together to create an approach that was more about caring for the individual students and holding them accountable for their actions - instead of punishing them for not going to class or missing a homework assignment.

The administration hired a social worker and partnered with outside agencies to provide behavioral and counseling support that students were not able to receive before. Additional measures were put in place to ensure students were actually coming to school. These efforts included the formation of an attendance committee, which conducted home visits, and a partnership with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office that held truancy hearings on site.

These practices helped reduce the suspension rate within the school by almost 80 percent and increased daily attendance to 91 percent. Once the behavioral adjustments started to turn around, the academic successes began to slowly improve.

Now, five years since APS started its transformation, the positive culture in the school has become the norm, and Memphis Street continues to grow each year. it is meeting the Pennsylvania growth standard in math and has exceeded it in English language arts.

Unfortunately, that positive trajectory is now threatened.

Memphis Street Academy recently received a recommendation of nonrenewal from the Charter Schools Office of the Philadelphia School District - the first step in the process to close charter schools in the city.

That means three potential futures for the school: turn it over to another charter operator, return it to the district, or shut it down. If one of the first two options, the school would be back to square one, because very little of a school's staff or programs are left in place once turned over to another operator. Of course, if the school is closed, the students would be scattered throughout the city.

A turnaround school involves long-term attention and planning - so much more than a new dress code and fresh coat of paint. And at Memphis Street, careful and strategic decisions have resulted in significant growth over the last few years. Each decision was intentionally made to improve some aspect of the school climate, community, and culture. This must continue, and will only do so if it remains under the current management.

I hope the district will not close this school, and risk returning it to the days when it was known as Jones Jail.

Sandra Farmer is president of the Memphis Street Academy Board of Trustees. contact@ap-schools.org