Private-education company hopes to lease Germantown High School property

A private education company is interested in running a program out of Germantown High School’s now-shuttered building.

Camelot Schools, a long-time partner of the Philadelphia School District, works with district students who are in danger of dropping out, need to catch up on their academics or have behavioral issues.

Kirk Dorn, Camelot’s spokesperson, told NewsWorks on Tuesday that the company will present a proposal for the site during a July 24 community meeting at Janes Memorial United Methodist Church, 47 E. Haines St.

The meeting, which will be hosted by the offices of Eighth District City Councilwoman Cindy Bass and state Rep. Stephen Kinsey, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.

“We believe once we’ve had that dialogue that the community will be very much in support of our proposal,” said Dorn.

The program would open in September.

What is Camelot?

Camelot currently operates three schools in Philadelphia: Excel Academy North and Excel Academy South in Northeast Philadelphia and Camelot Academy in North Philadelphia.

Excel North and Excel South are both accelerated schools that serve “near dropouts” who still need a substantial number of credits to graduate high school.

Camelot Academy is a transition school that serves middle-school and high-school students with disciplinary problems.

Dorn would not reveal which type of program the company would like to open in Germantown.

District response

District spokesman Fernando Gallard said Camelot is interested in merging all three of its programs at Germantown.

Gallard added that Camelot would lease the building from the district as the district moves forward with marketing the property for sale.

“The district is not in the business of being a landlord,” said Gallard.

In early March, the School Reform Commission voted to close Germantown High School as part of its facilities master plan, an effort aimed, in part, at addressing the district’s ongoing budget crisis.

A total of 24 schools closed at the end of this academic year.