FACTS Needs Your Help on December 15th!

4:00PM: Meet at FACTS if you want to walk to together

4:30 PM: Go to 440 N. Broad Street (School District Building)

What is happening on December 15th?

The School Reform Commission (SRC) will hold its regular monthly meeting at 4:30PM.
The SRC will vote on whether or not to approve FACTS’ charter application.
The SRC wants proof that community members support FACTS’ application, so we need a lot of people to come wearing red t-shirts to show support.

What should I expect on December 15th?

Some people will be meeting at FACTS and marching over to the SDP together at 4PM. We will hand out snacks and red t-shirts at FACTS (we request a $5 donation).
We will have people at the front door of the School District Building to greet you and tell you where to go. If you want a red FACTS t-shirt, you can get one then; we ask a $5 donation.
Bring a photo ID to enter the School District Building.
If you need interpretation, you can pick up a headset right before you enter the meeting. We have requested Mandarin, Indonesian and Spanish translation. If you need another language, we need to inform the school district a week in advance.
We will be sitting through the normal business of the SRC meeting. We will try to sit together if we can. We will have some people speaking in support of FACTS during the public testimony time of the meeting. This might happen around 5:15 or 5:30PM.
Those of us who can stay, will wait until it is time for the SRC to vote on our resolution. We will know if our application has been approved before we leave the meeting.

Board Chair, Ed Nakawatase speaking at the State of the School Meeting on 11/30/16 on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees.

Why does FACTS need a new Charter?

FACTS needs to increase in size (serve more students) so that we can be financially stronger.
FACTS wants to start a new program for beginning English Language Learners in grades 6-8.
- The School District has a Newcomer Program for high school students but there isn’t currently a Newcomer Program for middle school students in Philadelphia.
- It is hard for middle school students who are new to learning English to prepare in a very short amount of time to enter high school. Therefore, we have designed a special program designed specifically to address their needs.
FACTS is asking permission to give a preference to English Language Learners in our lottery through a weighted lottery so we can increase our percentage of ELL students.
- FACTS was founded in large part because we wanted to be a model for how to serve the needs of English Language Learners in a diverse learning community.
- FACTS population of ELL students has fallen drastically over the years even though we have a model program for English Language Learners.