SHQIP | العربية | 汉语 | Español | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | ខ្មែរ | Português | Pусский | O’zbek tili | українська мова | Việt
Dear School District of Philadelphia Community,
A major goal of the School District of Philadelphia is to increase access to high-quality academic and extracurricular programs across neighborhoods, recognizing that many of the District’s aging and unequal facilities are either under- or over-enrolled. In order to achieve this goal, we are in the midst of a Facilities Planning Process (FPP), which will culminate in a set of recommendations for each District facility, which will be submitted to the Board of Education early next year.
As we have analyzed the data and reviewed all of the feedback we’ve received from you, the Philadelphia community, four consistent themes have emerged:
- Strengthening PreK-8 programming through better use of space
- Reducing unnecessary school transitions for students
- Reinvesting in neighborhood high schools as community anchors
- Expanding access to grades 5-12 criteria-based and CTE schools of choice
Before we go any further however, we want to hear from you again. To honor our continued commitment to community engagement, and ensure that the Philadelphia community has had numerous opportunities to share input, we are prioritizing additional time to engage with you through the release of this Emerging Themes Survey. The survey will share more details about each theme and what each of them may mean for facilities planning and recommendations. It will also ask you some open-ended questions about your thoughts on each theme. We are supporting the community in completing this survey by making it available at several upcoming Parent & Family University Sessions. You can also access the survey immediately by clicking the button below, or complete it at any time that suits you by visiting the FPP website.
The District has remained committed to robust community engagement and thorough analysis of complex data, throughout the FPP. So far, this engagement has included 47 public listening sessions, 35 data verification sessions with principals, a District-wide survey that received over 5,700 responses, the public release of a data website that shares scores for all schools, and more. The Emerging Themes Survey is yet another opportunity for you to lend your critical voice to the FPP.
We will share a summary of your feedback in December, and we will use that feedback to inform the full list of facilities recommendations that we will share with the Board this winter. Then, in early 2026, we will share the recommendations, scenarios for each school, and host another round of community conversations, in order to gather more of your feedback before we submit the final plan to the Board.
This work is challenging and complex. Some of the decisions will be difficult. But I believe that every day that we work together throughout the FPP, we are one step closer to achieving our vision of becoming the fastest-improving, large urban school district in the country. Thank you for being involved thus far, and we look forward to your continued partnership. To learn more about the facilities planning process, please visit www.philasd.org/fpp.
In partnership,
Tony B. Watlington Sr., Ed.D.
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia