Chester Upland School District Welcomes New and Returning Students to 1st Day of School

September 4th, 2014

(CHESTER, PA) – Bells are ringing this morning as Chester Upland School District officials welcome a surge of new and returning students to the six schools in the district that is fighting its way up from being designated as the most distressed district in the state just a few years ago.

Approximately 3,450 students – an increase of about 450 students over last year – are starting school in a district that for the first time in many years appears to have just as many students in its public schools as in charter schools. The total number of students in the district is approximately 7,000.

“We are thrilled that so many students and their parents are enrolling in our public schools. We consider this is a testament to the significant progress Superintendent Gregory Shannon and his team have achieved in the last year,” said Receiver Joe Watkins. Two summers ago, the Secretary of Education appointed Mr. Watkins to resuscitate the ailing school district. Mr. Watkins began an effort to offer a quality education to students and to get the district’s fiscal house in order by hiring Mr. Shannon and Chief Financial Officer George Crawford and by opening lines of communications with community members.

“In the new Chester Upland School District, every single person – from the students to their parents to the teachers, principals, administrators, and every other staff member - is held accountable for student success,” said Supt. Shannon, a recognized urban school turnaround expert. “We have concentrated on improving the quality and variety of our academic offerings while making the schools safe and nurturing so students can concentrate on learning.”

Mr. Shannon cautioned that the enrollment numbers are preliminary, given that school is just starting, and the “leveling” every district does to determine a final enrollment count won’t occur until October. But preliminary indications are that at least 3,450 students are enrolled, up from about 3,000 at the end of the 2013-2014 school year and a rise from the 2,617 enrolled at the end of the 2012-2013 school year.

In a bell ringing ceremony at CUSA this morning, Mr. Watkins, Supt. Shannon, Chief of Staff Claudia Averette and Principal Sara Ferguson are among the adults greetings students. Just two years ago, CUSA was slated to close because of low enrollment. This year, so many students are enrolled that spaces in the building have been converted into extra classrooms. For example, a computer room was turned into a classroom, with clusters of computers reallocated to individual classrooms in mini-lab set-ups. An office was also converted into a classroom.

And despite its name, two years ago CUSA offered virtually no arts education. That is changed this year, as the district told parents and students during an aggressive marketing campaign over the summer. In addition to its existing rigorous general education and visual arts curriculum, CUSA is providing students with music and dance training, including choral and instrumental music, drum line instruction, ballet, tap, jazz and ballroom dancing. Students will be able to choose from a variety of musical instruments to study, including piano, clarinet, drums, trumpet, flute and saxophone. All students will have the opportunity to perform on the Chester High School stage during the school year

Also this summer the district wooed cyber students to attend the new CUSD Cyber School, a progressive program blending brick and mortar facilities with the full spectrum of on-line academic offerings. The program will give students access to professional help since teachers will always be available and also enable students to take classes, like STEM and culinary offerings, and to participate in extracurricular activities including sports and cheerleading, arts, bake club and theater.

The new cyber school, which serves grades 7 to 12, is located in a separate section of Chester High School, with a dedicated entrance. This wing will be part of an open cyber campus. Students will be able to take classes at Chester High School and at the STEM High School at Showalter.

While the increase in enrollment demonstrates the public school district’s effectiveness in improving its educational offerings in a safe, nurturing environment, Receiver Watkins is also pursuing other approaches to reduce the deficit and to support the competition between the public schools and charter schools, recognizing that competition should spur quality offerings at all the schools, as long as financial balance can be maintained.

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Media queries can be directed to Becky Taylor, 609.240.6886 or becky@btaylorpa.com.