Charter school planned for former Cecilian Academy site

By ROBERT FLES

"An academically challenging, holistic, culturally inclusive experience for children in a safe, attractive neighborhood and facility."  These are the goals of what looks like it will be the newest school in northwest Philadelphia, the Khepera Charter School.

At a public "get-acquainted" meeting held April 29 at the proposed site of the school in Mt. Airy, the leaders of the effort to open a new K-8 charter school spelled out their plans and took questions from neighbors.  The meeting was a joint effort of West Mt. Airy Neighbors, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and the board of the Khepera school.

That board has been working for three years to get the school organized and then approved by the School Reform Commission, the state-appointed body currently overseeing public education in Philadelphia.  According to Aisha Amin, president of the board of trustees, the board was unable to find an adequate facility in which to house the school in Logan, the neighborhood originally planned as the school's site.  When the board members learned of the availability of the former Cecilian Academy at 144 W. Carpenter Lane in Mt. Airy, they were delighted to discover that it would meet the new school's needs so well.  

Eventually, the Sisters of Saint Joseph were equally delighted to find a fitting use to be made of the facility, which has been unoccupied since Cecilian Academy closed its doors last June, due to declining enrollment.  The high school closed in the late 1980's.  Sister Merilyn Ryan said that her order was especially pleased that "the educational legacy" of Cecilian would continue in the Khepera School, which would lease the principal educational building and grounds from the order, with the lease to be reviewed and possibly renewed annually for up to five years.  Originally, the order planned to construct housing for senior citizens on the five-acre site, but neighborhood "concerns" contributed to the decision to locate that housing complex at another site, possibly at Second and Oxford Streets, according to current plans.

Carrie Bailey, the founder and acting administrative head of Khepera (the name — pronounced "KEP-ur-a" — of an Indian beetle associated with the life-giving force of the sun), emphasized that the school's mission was first and foremost to offer a comprehensive curriculum that would challenge students and aim to help close the academic achievement gap "attributed to race, gender and economic class."  A veteran elementary-level teacher, Bailey said, "I am retired and could be sitting on the beach somewhere" but "education is my love, culture is my passion."  Having visited and studied in 21 African countries herself, Bailey said that the curriculum would include considerable exposure to the histories and cultures of all students attending the school.

Like public schools generally, charter schools receive funding from local and state tax coffers but have greater freedom than other public schools in selecting faculty and establishing curriculum.

According to Bailey and board president Aisha Amin, who has been involved in the opening of three other charter schools, including the Imani Education Circle at Green Street and Chelten Avenue in Germantown, the School Reform Commission gave Khepera provisional approval of its charter in March, then asked in late April for some remaining details regarding the facility and an English Language Learners plan to be worked out.  The commission will make its final decision on or before June 16 but has authorized the board in the meantime to proceed with plans with the intent to open school in September. 

Michael Nix, representing West Mt. Airy Neighbors, moderated the question-and-answer portion of the evening.  Some neighbors welcomed the school to a neighborhood where education and diversity are valued and offered to help involve the neighborhood in the school; others raised questions about the effect of the school on the neighborhood.  Their concerns included possible problems with school buses, increased traffic, and parking; increases in noise level before and after school and during recesses; effects on the neighborhood of after-school and evening programs and meetings; and possibly negative effects of expanding the school. 

Bailey and Amin said they would welcome a WMAN representative on Khepera's advisory board to facilitate communication between the school and neighbors.  They also noted that the school would be using the same solutions for many of the possible problems, as with buses and parking, employed by Cecilian Academy over the years.

Regarding expansion of the school, they said that the board intends to open in the fall with a maximum of 275 students, using only the single main building on the property (which also includes two buildings used as convents by the Sisters of Saint Joseph and one used for programs).  If the proposed charter is approved, the school could expand over a period of five years up to 450 students, though remaining a K-8 school.

However, whether expansion would include finding a second site‹as some charter schools have done — has not yet been broached.  "We're concentrating entirely on trying to open for 275 students in September," said Amin.  Bailey noted that the school is currently taking applications and has reached 60 per cent capacity already without yet conducting any of the city-wide advertising required of charter schools.  She concluded, "We want to be good neighbors.  Mt. Airy is a wonderful neighborhood, and we want to be a part of keeping it wonderful."