Officials hope for local impact from int'l HS

Stronger community service efforts, improved curricula at local schools and a diverse student body may sound like Christmas in September for many West Philadelphia residents.

But such may be the benefit of letting teenagers study what they love, Penn officials say, adding that the ripple effects of a new internationally themed high school in the area could reach beyond the schoolhouse walls and into the surrounding community.

The International Studies High School, in which Penn will have a hand, is slated to open next fall near 30th Street Station. Penn will provide academic and perhaps financial support to the endeavor.

Chief among the expected effects of the school is its potential to serve as a model for other schools in the city, Graduate School of Education Associate Dean Nancy Streim said.

For example, the school could help other high schools to strengthen their international studies curricula, she said.

Bodine High School for International Affairs, a magnet school in Northern Liberties, a neighborhood just north of Center City, has already done this through a partnership with West Philadelphia Catholic High School, Bodine World Affairs Council Liaison Cecilia Ramirez said.

And the school will benefit more than just other teenagers, as students will directly aid the neighborhood through required community service, Streim said.

Jennifer Chidsey Pizzo, Penn's director of K-12 Initiatives, added that because students will hail from across the city, they will bring diversity to West Philadelphia as well.

Penn officials hope that about 60 percent of the student body will be from West Philadelphia, Streim added.

Streim said the school is part of a district-wide movement to give students more choice in their high school educations, both within their neighborhoods and throughout the city.

"If I were a student in Philadelphia right now, I would be filled with excitement, having a lot of possibilities to choose from," Pizzo said of the range of thematic schools.

Streim attributed the rising popularity of these schools to teenagers cultivating interests that cannot be served in neighborhood schools.

"Adolescents are often at a stage in their development . where they really want to focus their education," she said. "It's really a natural fit for kids that age."

Others agreed that themed schools provide additional opportunities for motivated students, rather than draw them away from normal public schools.

"One could argue that those who end up going to the neighborhood school are the ones who are kind of left behind, but the vision for high school education in Philadelphia makes it a very moot point because there will be very few neighborhood schools," Streim said.

Ramirez said the subject-specific schools can spur other schools to improve their curricula and add new programs similar to those at themed schools in order to attract students.

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