New West Philadelphia High opens to much fanfare

Formally opening the year for 151,000 Philadelphia public school students, dignitaries gathered Tuesday at the brand-new West Philadelphia High School to urge the students to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them.

Inside the $66 million school's cavernous auditorium, a DJ and a circus performer warmed up the crowd of students in blue blazers. Then the dignitaries took over.

"We're about getting an education!" shouted State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.). "We're about starting fresh! All the old stuff is over. It's about going forward!"

Paula McKinney-Rainey, president of the West alumni association, said she got choked up on her way into the school, on the site of the old West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys at 49th and Chestnut Streets.

"I was overwhelmed," McKinney-Rainey said. "It's beautiful."

All brick, glass, and possibilities, the building earned glowing reviews from many of its 800 students.

But the road to the festive first-day ceremony was not easy. West was first promised a new building almost a decade ago. The community - with strong efforts by the youth-organizing group Philadelphia Student Union - mobilized to plan for the school, then pushed to get it built.

Since then, the school has endured a rocky stretch, with a revolving door of principals, nearly total staff turnover, and a bumpy two-year process of being designated a Promise Academy, a district-run turnaround school.

At times it seemed the school would never get built, said Brian Armstead, director of civic engagement at the Philadelphia Education Fund. At one point, the project was in the capital-project pipeline but unfunded; another time, the district considered putting the building in another neighborhood.

"It's been exciting and challenging at the same time," Armstead said. "The community worked extremely hard. There have been a lot of changes that made things difficult."

Mayor Nutter acknowledged the long process.

"Yes, there have been challenges, and yes, quite frankly, there has been drama. A little too much drama. You want drama, watch TNT," Nutter said.

Elaine Simon, a member of a school-advisory council and director of the urban studies program at the University of Pennsylvania, lauded the "tremendous potential" of the school.

But as far as programs, it is not the school the West Philadelphia Community Partners - the group that helped plan the school - had in mind, she said. The group wanted several small schools, but compromised on small learning communities inside one school.

Now, Simon said, those small communities have been changed, and the distinctions among them are blurry.

Still, Simon said, she hoped a new district administration will help unite the community and use the resources of those who want to be involved at West.

Philadelphia Student Union organizer Iliyaas Muhammad agreed.

"I'm just hoping that with the new principal, we can move forward in a positive direction," Muhammad said. Mary Sandra Dean, formerly principal of Mastbaum High, is West's new leader.

Nutter vowed his support, but reminded students that only they could show up for school, do their homework, and participate in extracurriculars.

"Make every day of school be a great day of school for you, and an opportunity for us to do the right thing by you," the mayor said.

West junior Sydney Dickerson told the audience she was excited about the new building.

"For me, the new West means a chance to fight the stereotypes about us West kids," Dickerson said - stereotypes of disengaged and violent students. "This new school gives us the ability to prove that West really is the best."

Proclaiming the long-awaited opening of West "a special day," City Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell said she had confidence that the district had made a good investment in the building.

"When you give people something beautiful," Blackwell said, "they treat it that way."