Magnet school eyes relocation to U. City

Despite several months of inactivity, plans to relocate a leading Philadelphia public high school to Penn-owned land in University City are still alive and well. George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science, a top-notch but overcrowded magnet school, is expected to move from its current North Philadelphia location to a new facility to be built at 38th and Market streets. The site is owned by the University City Science Center, a Penn-supported research institute that occupies several blocks on Market Street. University officials originally announced plans to donate land to the school in 1998, at the same time they agreed to assist the city in building a new public school near campus. Penn agreed to provide the land to the Philadelphia School District for the Carver relocation at no cost. "The school district will not pay for the land but will have to bear all costs of building the school facility," Stephen Schutt, chief of staff for University President Judith Rodin, said in an e-mail. While the timetable for the project is still tentative, the school district hopes to begin construction on the new Carver High School by the beginning of next summer. "We have a target date for bidding for late spring of next year," said Ted Skierski, the school district's director of design, construction and capital projects. "And we're looking at roughly a 30-month construction period." That timetable means the new school could open by December 2003. According to Carver's top official, the relocation cannot come soon enough. "It's an excellent thing and it's much needed," Carver Principal Rosalind Chivis said. She stressed the importance of modern classrooms and laboratories for the high school, whose 700 students pursue an intense curriculum of science, math and engineering. "For the kind of program that we need, a more advanced facility is necessary," she said. Chivis went on to praise the planned location for the new school -- "right smack in the middle of Drexel and Penn" -- and pointed out that Carver already has educational arrangements with Penn, Drexel and other area institutions. "We're blessed to have many partners," she said. However, although construction plans are moving ahead on the new school, it is still not completely certain that the parcel on Market Street between 38th and 39th streets will be its future site. "It's still in a negotiation process between the University and the Science Center," Skierski said. And according to Schutt, the land at 38th and Market is only the "anticipated site" for Carver's relocation. Despite the uncertainty, Skierski said the school district is confident that the plans will work out. "That's the only site we have, and the University has made a commitment that they will come through.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.