Community Partnership School

In what national education officials say is a first in the country, the prestigious private school, Germantown Academy and Project H.O.M.E., an organization that helps to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness by providing a range of services to adults, children, and families, have teamed up to ready pupils in North Philadelphia for top private schools in the area. The new school is located at the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs which already operates an after-school program for the community.

Through support from various organizations, including The Honickman Foundation, the school has already raised more than $400,000 of the $2 million it needs to cover the first two years of its operating costs.

The students entering the program have been selected using the same admissions process that Germantown Academy employs. It was based on testing, observations and teacher recommendations. James Connor, Headmaster at Germantown Academy, said the goal is to find students "who have the best chance of being successful in this program."

Community Partnership School Open House
Photo: Paula Mandel

Classes are limited to a dozen students and the teachers use Germantown Academy's curriculum. The school opened in September 2006 with 36 children from pre-kindergarten to first grade. Plans call for the new school to expand to include fifth grade with two sections for each grade. Educators from Project H.O.M.E.'s after-school program will guide interested families through the admissions process.

Connor said the idea for a new school started about six years ago. Germantown Academy had increased the number of minority-student applicants, but school officials soon discovered that older students were too far behind to catch up. As a result, the school focused on recruiting younger students, and that eventually led to the decision to open the new school in partnership with Project H.O.M.E.

James Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia Reform Commission said the new school will "give great opportunity and choice to economically challenged but gifted young people."