Join the conversation

Story posted March, 2008. 
Results updated January, 2011.

Results:
• In 15 out of 16 standardized tests in 2010, students scored above state averages
• 84% of students met or exceeded proficiency standards on state reading tests in 2009
• 84.1% of students met or exceeded proficiency standards on state math tests in 2009

When the University of Pennsylvania decided to revitalize their surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhood of University City in the late 1990s, they knew they had to start with an outstanding neighborhood school. Together with the Philadelphia school district and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, Penn designed and created the Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School (otherwise known as Penn Alexander). The initiative has been a resounding success: Penn Alexander has showed some of the highest test scores in the city (in 2007, at least 80% of its students scored proficient or higher in state reading and math tests). What's more, the school has become a bridge connecting the neighborhood community with the university's vast resources.

Opened in 2001 with grades K-2 and 5-6, Penn Alexander has now expanded to serve over 500 pre-kindergarten through eighth graders. Students must live in the local catchment zone; in 2007-2008, enrollment stood at 50% low-income and 72% minority (48% African-American, 28% white, 13% Asian, 6% Hispanic, and 5% other ethnicities).

What makes Penn Alexander outstanding? Principal Sheila Sydnor told the Philadelphia Daily News, "The expectations are high and the curriculum is rigorous. I don't think we teach just enough. We go beyond just enough, and that has made a difference." In this case, "beyond enough" means a rich curriculum including language arts, math, science, technology, social studies, Spanish, art, music, and physical education. Developed in close collaboration with Penn's Graduate School of Education, the curriculum focuses on student-centered, hands-on learning. Middle-graders meet in advisories and take a variety of elective "choice" classes, from journalism to handbells.

Thanks to its close ties to the university, Penn Alexander also serves as a center for research and professional development for teachers and staff. Team teaching, mentoring teachers-in-training, graduate study, and research with Penn faculty are regular features at the school, and teaching strategies draw on the latest research from Penn's GSE.

The university also plays a major role in funding Penn Alexander, committing $1000 per student, per year, to the school, and leasing the property to the school district for $1 per year. The extra cash allows Penn Alexander to keep class sizes small-one key to its extraordinary success. With a student-teacher ratio of 17:1 in kindergarten and 23:1 in all other grades, students benefit from a level of individual attention nearly impossible in overcrowded schools. The combination of strategic leadership at the school level and the University partnership allows for other features: a well-appointed school library, a multimedia center, three computer labs, full-time technology and arts specialists, two playgrounds, and two gardens. The bright, spacious building (designed in collaboration with neighborhood parent groups as well as teachers and Penn faculty) includes an atrium where students gather to read, rehearse plays, or practice instruments. As seventh-grader Umar Farooqi told the Daily News, "It makes you feel welcome."

Universities nationwide are taking notice of Penn Alexander, seeking the key to its achievement. What do they find? First, groups that share common goals-the well-being of children and their communities-accomplish more when they work together. Parents, neighborhood groups, teachers, the school district, and the university all contributed expertise and resources to the planning of Penn Alexander. Second, money does make a difference. UPenn's investment of cash to support an excellent school design has paid off big-in higher test scores, excellent teachers and students, and a healthier community.

Results Update:
Since this story was originally posted, Penn Alexander has continued to perform well.  The school made Adequate Yearly Progress in both 2008 and 2009.  In 2009, 84% of students met or exceeded proficiency standards on state reading tests, while 84.1% did so in math.  Even more impressive: There was virtually no gap between economically disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers.  83.9% of economically disadvantaged students met or exceeded proficiency standards on state reading tests; 84% did so in math.   

Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education 2008-2009 Penn Alexander Academic Achievement Report. 

Further details about this story can be found in our sources:
Mensah M. Dean, for Philadelphia Daily News, "Philly's School of High Marks", November 9, 2007 [link no longer active] 

Jill Khadduri, Heather Schwartz, and Jennifer Turnham of Abt Associates, Inc. "Reconnecting Schools and Neighborhoods: an introduction to school-centered community revitalization", 2007

 Elliot Greenwald, for Penn and West Philadelphia, "Say Yes to Education and the Penn Alexander School: Uniting Penn with the Public Schools of West Philadelphia", November 7, 2005

University of Pennsylvania's Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School webpage

Penn Alexander School website 

For additional information, please contact:
Sheila Sydnor
Principal, Penn Alexander School

via

Ann Kreidle
Manager, k-12 Partnerships, for the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania
kreidlea@gse.upenn.edu