Decision day for incoming Phila. high schoolers

Michael Palamountain has narrowed it down to five schools. He's researching his top choices, polishing his essays, practicing his interview skills.

With good grades and a plate full of interesting activities, Michael's not stressed, but his mother eyes the big crowds at open houses and worries.

There's no way picking a college four years from now will be tougher than choosing from among the Philadelphia School District's 60 high schools, says Michele Palamountain, mother of 13-year-old Michael, a student at Meredith Elementary in Queen Village.

For Michael and the city's other eighth graders, D-Day looms.

By Friday any eighth grader who hopes to attend any high school other than his or her neighborhood school must apply to the district, ranking up to five selections. Decisions go out beginning in March.

Choice has expanded dramatically, with the number of high schools from which students may choose ballooning to 60 from 27 in the last five years.

But in the admissions game, the stakes are high.

Most applicants are intent on avoiding the city's neighborhood high schools, which are plagued by low test scores, discipline issues and high dropout rates.

The magnet schools include such stars as Central and Masterman, among the state's best-performing schools. This group, by and large, offers more rigor and variety, with specialty schools in study areas that range include performing arts and engineering and science.

LaTretta Jones, the district's director of student placement, said that she expects about 50,000 applications to pour in from current district, charter- and private-school eighth graders. For a high-achieving school like Central, she says she expects 4,000 requests for 600 seats.

Adding to the anxiety is a shortened application process - paperwork must be filed by Friday this year, about two weeks earlier than in previous years.

The application process has drawn fire from the new superintendent, Arlene Ackerman, who is exploring changing it. Superintendent says the application process is inequitable because once the deadline passes, any student who moves to the district or whose parents miss the deadline are typically out of luck.

"It takes choice away from some families, and sometimes that's not of their own doing," Ackerman said. "I just think we have to come up with some other solutions that are more equitable."

Ackerman, who took over the district in June, said it was too late to shift policies this year. For next year, rather than slamming the door on applications by October, she says she would like the deadline extended to December or January.

"If we say we're a school district of choice, then we don't want to close options for parents," Ackerman said. "I think it's something we need to look at seriously for next year, to try to address it in a way that's going to be fair."

Jones said that the district used to accept applications until mid-November, but that the deadline was pushed up, perhaps to accommodate parents who want decisions on public school admittance before committing to private school deposits. Her office could handle an extended deadline, Jones said.

Michele Palamountain knows Michael will make the deadline this year. She is just worried about mounting competition. At a recent open house at Science Leadership Academy, which emphasizes technology and project-based learning in cooperation with the Franklin Institute, she saw plenty of parents whose children attend private schools.

"With public schools that mimic a private-school education and a bad economy, you have more children competing," Palamountain said. "We're not even Catholic, but I think, should we apply to Roman Catholic, just as a backup?"

Michael, who is applying to Central, Science Leadership Academy, Academy at Palumbo, Constitution High and Bodine, all magnet schools, hopes to attend Central, which he likes for its traditions and broad course offerings.

Michele Palamountain, who says she is grateful for all the choices open to her son, still says the high school choice process is more nerve-wracking than the college application will be.

"There's a lid for every pot - everyone can get into some college. But for public high schools, you're limited to a geographic area, and it's got to be good. The stakes are higher," she said.

Marjorie Goldstein, mother of Masterman eighth grader Adina, says she understands the district needs time to process paperwork.

"But the deadline is so early . . . Some schools don't even let you visit until later in the year, after the deadline," said Goldstein, who lives in Queen Village. "Plus, they're teenagers. Their interests change overnight. You have to make this decision now, and you may want something totally different in eight months."

At the district's High School Expo a few weeks ago, parents and students circled booths, grabbed pamphlets, and talked to teachers and administrators.

Kia Fulton and her daughter Kiyana Fulton-Vinson, a seventh grader at Harding Middle School in Frankford, said she felt overwhelmed by the choices.

Kiyana, 12, says she thinks Carver High School of Engineering and Science, Masterman, Girls' High and the School of the Future look promising. She was impressed by what she heard from teachers at the high school fair.

That was fine with her mother, because their local high school, Frankford, "is not even an option."

Frankford, a school of about 2,000 students, has been labeled "persistently dangerous" by the state based on violence there. It has also failed to meet standards in reading and math for several years.

"I don't like it. It's not good enough for her," Fulton said.