Penn Alexander School

The school is known for its good academic teaching, but they focuses more and include education on gender identity and LGBTQ history as part of the curriculum. However, it's important to note that this may not be the best fit for families who have different values or beliefs. The school is more likely to be supportive of liberal families and woke agendas, so if that is something that concerns you, this may not be the right choice. As always, it's important to do thorough research and choose a school that aligns with your family's values.

A racially bias school that doesn't care for black students in the West Philadelphia area. They care more about LGBT , woke agenda, and sexuality than actual education. Unless you are an elitist white progressive liberal you are not welcomed.

PAS is the best school I recommend highly

I attended PAS in 2006, and my sibling later followed. In the beginning, it was decent - diversity, many caring teachers, nice building to learn in. However, in the coming years, our positive experience attending the school quickly crumbled. Summer 2011, my dad received a letter stating that we were no longer allowed to attend PAS b/c we lived outside the catchment. We were very heartbroken by this. During this time, securing a seat for your child PAS was very sought after. You would think that a school that you have been attending for years, and excelled in as a student, would have some sort of loyalty and trust towards their students and their families. But no, that wasn't the case. So, we left the school and went to a school nearby for a year. In that year, my parents found an apartment that was in the PAS catchment. We finally re-enrolled, and we thought the fight to merely get an education was over. However, it was far from over. Outside of school, my 11-year-old sibling wrote a poem on her blog. One of her friend's parent's found the poem and came to the school to complain. Not long after, I was called down to the office and asked, "Do you know what your sibling did?" I was utterly baffled, what could my 11-year-old sibling have done that was so bad? They proceeded to call my mother, who rushed to the school a few minutes later. They used the meaningless poem my sibling wrote as a scapegoat to kick us out of the school once again. They made false accusations that we did not actually live at the address we claimed to live in, and Sheila Sydnor told my sibling, “Because of you, you’re getting kicked out of the school. Because of you, your brother won’t be able to attend PAS either.” They berated my sibling over a poem, even years following. The entire office staff sat around a table, watching my mother cry her eyes out, and begging them to let us stay. I will never forget the sight of my mom grabbing tissue after tissue b/c she couldn’t stop crying. Sheila Sydnor and Theresa Knight embarrassed, taunted, and treated us as if we weren’t even human. Simply b/c we wanted an education. After this incident, my parents fought to keep us in the school through the District, and we were able to stay. But at what cost? Our dignity? My parents sleepless nights? Other kids were given TRANSPASSES to attend the school because they lived outside the catchment, so even if we did live outside the catchment, why couldn’t WE attend? My family never deserved this injustice

I first attended Kindergarten at Penn Alexander way back in the fall of 2003 when it was brand-spanking new. I remember having a pleasant experience at the school overall, though bullying was an issue that was seldom addressed. There was also a huge clique mentality, albeit among parents and less so students, ironically enough. This was particularly evident when a few parents unsuccessfully attempted to have me kicked out of school in the third grade. One afternoon, they saw my mother drop me off at a relative's house, which was just outside of the catchment area, and claimed we lived there and were using a false address. So there's definitely that to contend with.As for my daily experiences within the school, I never felt out of place as there was a diverse mix of students from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. I also remember sharing my lunch period and a few select classes with some of the special needs children. The teachers were amazing and passionate about their jobs, though there were a few who were problematic.All in all, it was a mixed bag, but I still have wonderful memories from my time at this school.