Ring the Bell: Philly Students Head Back to School

It’s the day that kids have been dreading and parents have been waiting for over two long months: today marks the first day back at school for Philly students. The summer break was cut slightly short for students, as the school district is experimenting with a different school calendar that will also let students out earlier next spring. Furthermore, Philly is trying out a new bell schedule, meaning that students are facing lots of changes going into a fresh school year. To explain the calendar change:

“That seeks to do two things: front load the instructional time so that more instructional time in the beginning of the year before Memorial Day and start with uninterrupted weeks of school,” said Philadelphia Public Schools Superintendent Dr. William Hite. [CBS local]

Several school buildings throughout the district have seen updates to make them more modern. Across the board, students can expect to see more tech-based classes. Overall, Philly students are going to see changes meant to give them a taste of technology. At the School of the Future in West Philly, all students will be given brand new Chrome Books to use that they can bring back and forth between home and school all year long.

City officials were on hand to ring actual bells to celebrate the new year across the city. Mayor Kenney, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., most of the new school board and other officials were on hand at Muñoz-Marín Elementary, a K-8 school in North Philadelphia where the principal said that everyone was “beyond excited” to start a new school year.

As Mayor Kenney said, investing in schools yields a bigger payoff than any other:

“Nothing else matters. It’s not Amazon; it’s not retaining businesss. It’s training our young people to take the jobs of the next 10, 20, 30 years,” Kenney said. “And, if we don’t do it, we’re going to be mired in poverty forever.” [KWY News Radio]