News

By: Isabel Medlock

Guest Writer

A SLA middle school is set to open for the fifth grade next September. It’s based of off the SLA high schools and will be an inquiry and project based school. The SLA middle school has partnerships with Drexel University, Powel Elementary, and Inquiry Schools. There will be 90 students per grade.

“SLA-MS will have the same core values, dedication to inquiry driven, project based, technology infused education [and] advisory program [as SLA high schools],” said Tim Boyle, the founding principal of the new SLA middle school. “The philosophy of SLA and SLA-MS will be one and the same.”

Similarly to the SLA high schools, students will have to do benchmarks. To make the process of benchmarks more doable for the younger students the benchmarks will be more structured than the high school level benchmarks. As the students get older the benchmarks will become less structured. The middle school will also be using the same grading system of 95, 85, 75, 65, and 55.

Use of technology will also be an important facet of the middle school. The middle school students will have the same access to technology as the high school students do although younger students will not be able to take laptops home.

Unlike the SLA high schools, the middle school will be a neighborhood school so there will be no academic criteria or interview needed to be admitted. If there are unfilled seats students from other parts of the city will be selected through a lottery. Preference will be given to students who live in Mantua and students living in the 19104 zip code will be given preference in the lottery.

There will be no official preference for SLA middle school students applying to SLA high schools but according to Boyle they will be more prepared for SLA high schools and will be better able to demonstrate this ability than students from other middle schools.

To develop the SLA middle school, Boyle has been working with the faculty and principals of both SLA high schools. He attends professional development and any major school events, such as Back to School Night and Summer Institute.

“Everyone has been more than accommodating and it has been a real joy,” said Boyle.

Drexel University will be providing the funding for a new building that would house both the SLA middle school and Powel Elementary.

“We’re [..] hoping to be able to build the actual school that the middle school and the elementary school would be in so we purchased the University City high school site and we’re working very hard to identify the finances that would allow us to build a building,” said Lucy Kerman, vice provost for University and Community Partnerships at Drexel.

Drexel has been involved with Powel for several years. When Drexel heard that SLA was hoping to open a middle school they wanted to get involved as well.

“Drexel has been involved with our local elementary school, Powel School, which is a school that teaches Kindergarten through fourth grade,” said Kerman. “We thought that the partnership with Chris and SLA was a perfect fit for Drexel and a perfect fit for Powel.”

Penn Alexander, another school created through partnership between the school district and a university, receives a stipend per student from Penn. Drexel will not be providing a stipend to the SLA middle school.

“The university is not a wealthy university[…] and we’re not in a position to provide an operating subsidy,” said Kerman.

Drexel will be providing teacher support and will assist with curriculum development through its School of Education. Drexel is also hoping to provide after-school programming and mini courses.

“I think what’s really important is that this is a school that everybody would feel comfortable sending their children to,” said Kerman. “It’s high quality, it’s a neighborhood school, it should be for a diverse community, and whether it’s a administrator or a long time resident or a family living in the shelters this is a school to support families in this neighborhood. It is our intention that it be a school that attracts everybody and provides all children with an education.”

By: Sydney Rogers

As incoming freshman were getting prepared for their first day of school, SLA had offered a summer institute. s and was a way for the new comers to get to know the school a little bit better. Summer institute was not mandatory but was strongly advised. Although there were teachers, faculty members, and advisors guiding the freshman there was also a number of upperclassmen students who had volunteered to help work summer institute. The orientation was a way for freshman to get a taste of what their first day would be like. They were separated into groups called “Expedition Groups” and were designated a spot in Philly. They asked questions about their location, they researched and dug deeper, and at the end the freshman planned and created a project.

Summer institute was experienced differently by freshman and their upperclassmen guides. Freshman,Christina Santana says:“It was fun in a way for me to meet new people, but I didn’t know one person who was here And it helped me adjust to the SLA kind of learning style. It prepared me for what kind of work we would be given and it showed me where to go for certain classes.” The majority of the freshman who participated in the institution felt this way. Although they were busy working on their projects, there was plenty of time to get to know the students they are going to be spending the next four years with. The upperclassmen who worked at the institute were a good resource to the newcomers who seeked answers and advice from those who had experience in the SLA field. Sarah Berg, a freshman who attended summer institute this summer says, “One of them [upperclassmen] made me feel more comfortable on the first day by just like talking to me and being really friendly.” Sarah wasn’t the only freshman who had a similar experience. Many of them recall their upperclassmen guides as good role models and gained advice.

Summer institution was informative and helpful to many or all freshman who attended. They made lasting memories, and overall it made it so incredibly easier for all the freshman on their first day of school. They were more comfortable because of summer institute and it was an experience that shaped their very first day at Science Leadership Academy.

By: Majd Bostani

Science Leadership Academy has a reputation of caring about its’ engineering department. SLA made that boldly obvious when they hired one of the coolest people many high schoolers know. Mr. Kamal, SLA’s engineering teacher is the authority on futuristic technology and engineering! Mr. Kamal has some tremendous things on his resume, and that  helps him make SLA’s engineering department one of the best in the city.

Mr. Kamal holds both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Before working for SLA, he owned a software company for twenty-five years and worked for General Electric as a spacecraft designer for eight years. That’s right, he designed the spacecraft for NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration! If that doesn’t make him sound like a great engineer, I don’t know what does!

Mr. Kamal and I specifically talked about the grants that SLA’s engineering department has received.

When asked about where his grants came from he proudly stated, “We received over two hundred thousand dollars from many major corporations over the past six months!” SLA Engineering’s largest grant came from State Farm for about one hundred thousand dollars. Among other grants were forty-five thousand dollar grants from Braskem, a Brazilian petrochemical company, as well as Axalta Coating Systems, a performance automotive paint company. SLA Engineering also received grants from the United States Navy, Boeing Aircraft Company, Lowe’s, and Dow Chemical.

“That money is funding numerous projects that SLA Engineering is working on,” Mr. Kamal stated. “Among those projects are an engineering makerspace, a metal machine shop, and funding for our Robotics team,”

SLA’s Robotics Team is once again competing at the FIRST Robotics Competitions.

“It takes a lot of dedication to build a winning robotics team,” Mr Kamal added. “With our grant, we hope to be able to buy better tools for our team to build robots with,” Mr. Kamal reassured.
I, on behalf of SLAMedia congratulate Mr. Kamal and the entire SLA Engineering and Robotics Team on this grant.