Philadelphia Neighborhood School Planning
West Philadelphia & Kensington Neighborhoods
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Funded by the William Penn Foundation, Concordia led the West Philadelphia and Kensington communities in a seven month community planning process. Using a systemic planning approach, the community explored and identified the community needs and resources, looking for ways to integrate programs and services in the development of their new and renovated schools. The community searched for answers to the following questions. How can the schools better serve the community? How can the community support the neighborhood schools? How can we foster better methods of communication between the schools, District and community? Concordia’s methodology of community planning also promoted the growth and development of local leadership and continued organizing beyond the master planning meetings to sustain the community’s work.
Over the course of the planning process, more than 140 community members joined this discussion, devoting many hours researching potential solutions and strategies. The Steering Committee reached agreement on a broad vision for their schools, developed recommendations for their reconfiguration and proposed strategies for change, school themes and site, and plans for the new facility.
On the second phase of this project Concordia is supporting the community’s participation in the design process of their new schools.
To download the Kensington final report click here
To download the final Kensington Powerpoint presentation click here
To download the West Philadelphia High School final report click here
To download the final West Philadelphia High School Powerpoint presentation click here
