Philadelphia Metropolis

west philadelphia: Philadelphia Metropolis

The New Home Schooling

Like many Pennsylvania children, eight-year-old Venus Kennedy has just begun third grade, but not in a new and unfamiliar classroom. She is doing all of her schooling from the comfort of her family home near Temple University. Kennedy is among the thousands of youngsters in the Philadelphia region for whom the start of school this year means pulling up a chair in their living room, dining room or bedroom and logging on to a computer. They are attending virtual schools - a fast-growing trend in K-12 education, enrolling about 175,000 students nationwide and estimated 23,000 in Pennsylvania. (Comments)

A Cyber Future for Education

The John Paul II High School in suburban Montgomery County has all the bells and whistles of a brand-new school--including two cyber learning labs. Advanced Placement courses, once the bragging right of the highest functioning, best funded schools in the region, are becoming commonplace - thanks to the Internet. Students who once were on the verge of dropping out in the Octorara Area School District in Chester County are now making up lost ground - taking so-called credit recovery courses using school computers. (Comments)

The 13th District

Crime is down in Philadelphia, but rising in many inner-ring suburbs. In Upper Darby Township, veteran policeman Michael Chitwood is working to stem the tide of crime seeping from the city. Mike Mallowe profiles Chitwood and his efforts in this two-part special report. (Comments)

The 13th District: Part II

When Mike Chitwood arrived in Upper Darby in 2005, he knew what he had to do: go after drug and drug-related crime. It was the cause of many of the township's troubles and he knew he had to get aggressive. In the second part of his profile, Mike Mallowe tells how Chitwood did it. (Comments)

Urban Oasis Building 101

By Louisa Alexander Years before buying my first home in West Philly, I longed for a real garden.  I admired lush front yards filled with flowers and imagined tending a leafy urban oasis of my very own. When home... (Comments)

Recent Entries

  • Why I Am 'Going Bamboo': I'm not sure which aspect of corporate America can be credited as the straw that broke the camel's back and made me decide to "go bamboo." Maybe it was the chorus of co-workers wishing me things like "Happy Friday" or chirping "Somebody could use another cup of coffee!" Maybe it was time I spent studying the walls of my cubical, attempting to conjure up ideas of how any postcard or picture could camouflage the plastic box I worked in. Most likely, however, it was the unenthusiastic chatter of my fellow 20-somethings every morning on the R5. IPod in ears, the front page of The Metro shielding their faces, they are daily ushered from the suburbs like unwilling passengers on the River Styx.
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  • The New Home Schooling: Like many Pennsylvania children, eight-year-old Venus Kennedy has just begun third grade, but not in a new and unfamiliar classroom. She is doing all of her schooling from the comfort of her family home near Temple University. Kennedy is among the thousands of youngsters in the Philadelphia region for whom the start of school this year means pulling up a chair in their living room, dining room or bedroom and logging on to a computer. They are attending virtual schools - a fast-growing trend in K-12 education, enrolling about 175,000 students nationwide and estimated 23,000 in Pennsylvania.
  • Finding the Right Cyber Charter: In the new world of public education - where choices abound - parents have to do their homework before picking a school for their child. That's doubly true for cyber charters, which promise a lot but sometimes don't deliver the goods when it comes to quality education. In this installment of The New Home Schooling, reporter Connie Langland offers tips and a list of sources on how to find the cyber charter that best fits your child's needs...
  • A Cyber Future for Education: The John Paul II High School in suburban Montgomery County has all the bells and whistles of a brand-new school--including two cyber learning labs. Advanced Placement courses, once the bragging right of the highest functioning, best funded schools in the region, are becoming commonplace - thanks to the Internet. Students who once were on the verge of dropping out in the Octorara Area School District in Chester County are now making up lost ground - taking so-called credit recovery courses using school computers.
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