Your back-to-school guide for Germantown and West Oak Lane

 A scene from the start of the 2012 school year at MLK High School. Many students from the shuttered Germantown High have elected to begin attending MLK this year. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks, file)

A scene from the start of the 2012 school year at MLK High School. Many students from the shuttered Germantown High have elected to begin attending MLK this year. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks, file)

It’s back to school time again in Germantown and West Oak Lane. NewsWorks has put together contact information for area schools and a handful of school year highlights.

Major changes to the school landscape in Northwest Philly for the 2013-2014 academic year include the closure of Germantown High School, which will now feed students into MLK High School and Roxborough High School. Other area closures include Robert Fulton Elementary in Germantown and John L. Kinsey in West Oak Lane.

Keep in mind that Theodore Roosevelt will remain open, but will no longer be a middle school and will now serve K-8. Parkway Northwest High School has relocated from Germantown Avenue to share a location at 1100 E. Mt. Pleasant Ave. with Leeds Middle School.

NewsWorks will follow all area schools throughout the year to provide readers with additional updates. If you have a school-related story idea, send your thoughts to bhickey@whyy.org or nroshania@whyy.org.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

Here’s a guide to going back to school in Germantown and West Oak Lane. 

Anna L. Lingelbach School

Address: 6430 Wayne Ave. Philadelphia, Pa. 19144Phone: 215-951-4001Principal: Richard Raisman

Extracurricular activities include basketball, volleyball, instrumental music, inter-generational tutoring, algebra classes, Student Council, track, lacrosse, Ball Room Dancing, Dragon Boat Racing, 24 Challenge, and Project Pride.

Germantown Friends School

Address: 31 W. Coulter St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19144Phone: 215-951-2300Head of School: Dana Okeson Weeks

Students can partake in the Animal Care Club and learn how to take care of and feed different animals throughout the year.
On Sunday, Sept. 8, GFS’s senior class will attend a Senior Tea social gathering at the at the Germantown Cricket Club. It is a chance for seniors to dress up in their finest and discuss the final year and paths ahead.

Greene Street Friends School

Address: 5511 Greene St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19144Phone: 215-438-7545Head of School: Edward Marshall

Lower School: The school will continue their “Science Fusion,” “Life Skills” and “Tweens” programs. They will also participate in field trips throughout the year as part of their “Experimental Education” initiative.
Middle School: The school will continue their “Costa Rica Exchange Program” and learn about the culture as they write to pen pals in Costa Rica. Students will travel to Washington, DC and New York City in May.
Greene Street Friends School’s annual Grandparents and Mentors Day will be held in the spring.

Jay Cooke Elementary School

Address: 1300 W. Loudon St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19141Phone: 215-456-3002Principal: Dr. Judy Seibert-Burns

Extracurricular activities include Power Hour, Chess Club, Cooke Museum of Art as well as volleyball, basketball and baseball teams.

John Wister Elementary School

Address: 67 E. Bringhurst St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19144Phone: 215-951-4003Principal: Donna Smith

Wister boasts new state of the art playground facilities, exercise equipment, basketball courts, patio with game board table tops, two beautiful gardens and Eagles Turf Field.
Wister also has Mural Art Designs covering the front of back of their facility with beautiful pictures.
The school will continue class trips to Grumblethorpe, John Wister’s home and other historic Germantown sites.

PA School for the Deaf

Address: 100 W. School House Ln. Philadelphia, Pa. 19144Phone: 215-951-4700Head of School: Marja Brandon

Elementary School: The school will continue “FUN Friday,” a day of fun rewards for good work habits. They will also participate in Chick-Fil-A’s “Core Values Program” in which students are rewarded with a trip to the restaurant.
Middle School: The school will continue to be pen pals with a deaf school in the Dominican Republic. Last year, they collected clothing donations for the school.
High School: The school will continue their collaborative program with nearby Mercy Vocational High School. Students may attend classes for fields in business education, carpentry, cosmetology, culinary arts and more.

Roosevelt School

Address: 430 E. Washington Ln. Philadelphia, Pa. 19144Phone: 215-951-4170Principal: Cassandra Houston

Roosevelt will become a K-8 school and no longer be solely a middle school.
Students from nearby Fulton Elementary, which closed this summer, and other feeder schools will be enrolled at Roosevelt.

Hope Church School

Address: 6707 Old York Rd. Philadelphia, Pa. 19126Phone: 215-927-6650Principal: Dr. Suzette Ajedho

For the 2013-2014 school year, Hope will continue to offer creative arts including drama, mime and dance as well as field trips. They continue to offer SAT Prep and college placement for students.

Promise Academy at Martin Luther King High School

Address: 6100 Stenton Ave. Philadelphia, Pa. 19138Phone: 215-276-5253Principal: William C. Wade

This year students from the now-closed Germantown High School had the option to enroll at MLK.
MLK students will continue to participate with Seeds for Learning, a farming and entrepreneurship program. The school also encourages students to participate in their mural arts program and other activities like Project Citizen.

Samuel W. Pennypacker School

Address: 1858 E. Washington Ln. Philadelphia, Pa. 19138Phone: 215-276-5271Principal: Wendy Baldwin

Pennypacker will continue to crack down on bullying and cyber-bullying.
A partnership with Temple University called the “Temple Experience Corps” is another highlight of the school year.

William Rowen Elementary School

Address: 6841 N. 19th St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19126Phone: 215-276-5251Principal: James G. Murray, Jr.

Rowen presents an annual Black History Live Museum Program. This dynamic program will showcase our third, fourth, and fifth grade students who researched the lives of famous African Americans. Students will dramatically present the lives of these famous African Americans in the form of a “live museum.”

West Oak Lane Charter School

Address: 7115 Stenton Ave. Philadelphia, Pa. 19138Phone: 215-927-7995CEO: Dr. Debbera Peoples-Lee

West Oak Lane Charter School offers online resources like First in Math, Study Island, Tumble Book Library and Tumble Book Cloud.
The school also offers a variety of athletic programs including basketball, cheerleading, volleyball and track and field.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal