May 21, 2007

Dear TPS Parents and Neighbors,

In March we were notified that the City Council would not be moving forward on any action in connection with the potential purchase of the 2501-15 South Street property until after the primary elections. As a result, we temporarily suspended the work we had planned to do on environmental testing and architectural planning.  Instead, we turned our focus to the daily life of running a busy and productive school community.

Despite the pause in our work, The Philadelphia School remains committed to securing the property at 25th and South Streets.  We have used the time to further refine our hopes for the property, and we are eager to begin to work with architects to develop plans for the use of the space.  As discussed in February and March, we plan to build a preschool to house our youngest learners, a playground designed for small children, and additional parking areas for the school.  We also have discussed landscape architecture and garden areas, multipurpose space, and some administrative space.  In early May we sent requests for proposals to a number of architectural firms.  It is our hope that we will secure an architect in the next weeks as we continue to move the process forward. 

We have been busy with many projects at the school, including some connected with the neighborhood.  A group of students is working with teachers and an artist-in-residence to design a mosaic to be installed in Markward Playground.  We celebrated Earth Day with activities in our yard and in our neighborhood.  TPS students cleaned up trash, planted planters near our fencing, and marked neighborhood storm water drains for the Philadelphia Water Department.  Our middle school students have challenged our families to conserve energy by driving less:  our goal is to have our families save 10,000 driving miles by the end of the school year by walking, riding the bus, or combining errands to save fuel. 

The final weeks of school will certainly be busy ones, and we will continue to update you with important news.

Regards,

Amy P. Vorenberg                                                                       
Head of School