News

Marcus Diemer

Oskar Glahn

Staff Writers

This school year, the School District of Philadelphia has implemented a new, standardized system for the admission of upcoming high school students — including SLA.

While theoretically open to anyone, many Philadelphia selective admission high schools have become less socioeconomically and racially diverse in the past decade. 

In response, the district has constructed a lottery system for admissions with the goal of creating equity and giving students who had less access to learning resources an equal chance.

“The district looked at the data and saw that there were inequities about who was getting access to certain admission schools, and felt a need to design a system that leveled the playing field and allowed more access,” said Principal Chris Lehmann.

Parents’ responses to this new system have varied. Many parents feel like this system is quite unfair; giving students with lower tests scores and grades the same chance to gain acceptance to a selective admissions school as higher-achieving, honor roll students. Over 2,000 parents have signed a petition calling for the district to reconsider its plan. They claim that the school district has brought about these changes in an “unduly rushed manner”. They want to make a plan that will both promote equity and meet the educational needs of the school district students by working with the community and the school district.

However, many other parents’ opinions are quite positive about this change in the admissions system. Education in Philadelphia closely correlates with poverty levels in certain neighborhoods, meaning that if a child grows up in a poor neighborhood and goes to a neighborhood elementary and middle school, they would have much less of a chance at getting a quality education than a child growing up in a wealthy neighborhood public school.

Impact At SLA

The debate about the changes is ongoing, but the new system is already here. What will this look like for SLA, starting next year?

The school does not expect a major change in racial demographics, due to the already-existing commitment to diversity.  In the 2021-2022 year at SLA, 65% of the student body was made up of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and other ethnically diverse students, where the other 35% were white students.

Principal Lehmann also feels confident that the school will still attract students who share the school’s values.

“At SLA, we have always looked at the whole child through the interview process and through multiple measures, which created a process that is difficult to standardize.” 

Working with the district, the school was able to keep some elements of the interview process.

“I’m very happy that the district allowed us to continue our project-based presentations, and I think that was a recognition of what we do and why we do it,” said Lehmann.

Although the interview process will still be maintained, the central office of the school district now makes the final call on admissions, which is making many students wonder if their chances at SLA would have been different under the previous system. 

“I understand why they’re doing the lottery and that there weren’t many other options, but I don’t think it was fair at all,” says 8th grader Henry Blakelock (brother of Senior Max Blakelock), who applied to SLA. “There were straight A students who didn’t get into any of their schools. It’s strictly based on luck, which isn’t fair at all.”

Looking Ahead

The main goal of this new system, according to the district, is to fight against this imbalance. The fact that it is much more difficult to get a well-rounded education while growing up in a rough neighborhood is completely unfair, and many feel like this is the solution we’ve been waiting for. 

“The goal is equity. The goal the district has is making sure that the most number of kids get into the schools that they want to go to, that they can thrive in, and that are set up so students have the opportunity to have really amazing high school experiences,” says Lehmann.

Maya Smelser, Anouk Ghosh-Poulshock, & Gabi Hart

Staff Writers

Everyone knows the misery of waiting in the crowded line for the metal detectors before class. But what exactly is the district policy around metal detectors? Why did the old school building not use them? 

Policy and History 

“I don’t like metal detectors,” was Principal Chris Lehmann’s first response when asked why there were no metal detectors at the old SLA building. SLA did not use them when located in the old building on 22nd Street. 

Back in the Spring of 2019, the School District of Philadelphia pushed for mandatory metal detector use.  . This vote was met with heavy resistance from students from SLA, SLA Beeber, and the Workshop School. . These students argued that it should be up to the schools to decide what safety looks like. Students like Zoey Tweh, who has now graduated from SLA, delivered 370 out of the 500 student signatures to the Board of Education Meeting that opposed the metal detector mandate. 

Despite this effort, the School Board voted to make metal detectors mandatory in all schools, and they have been in constant use since the move to 1482 Green street. .

In the Office of School Safety’s Guide to Search and Seizure, it states that any person connected to a school is “subject to a search of their physical person and all items in their possession by means of metal detectors, X-ray equipment, or by hand, for the purpose of preventing the introduction of weapons, contraband, or illegal items.” 

They also define a weapon as “any object, device, or instrument that is designed as a weapon or that is capable of threatening or inflicting serious bodily harm.”

So what cannot specifically go into school? The list consists of: drugs, vapes, lighters, any gun (including BB guns), tasers, knives/switchblades, and pepper spray.

The Daily Experience

School Safety Officer Cynthia Byrd stated that she believes the school is better off with the metal detectors. “We live in an  unsafe society. Metal detectors make kids more comfortable and put parents at ease.”

 At the front doors, there is also an amnesty box. Students have the option to place their contraband in the box, without any punishment. But do students even use them? 

In our survey, we found that the vast majority of SLA  students have never used the “snitch box”, as one student called it, and some don’t even know what it is. Only one student who responded to the survey said they had dropped an item in the box. 

Administrative Opinions 

Principal Lehmann stated that he is not sure that metal detectors are the effective way to solve the underlying issue that keeps metal detectors in Philadelphia schools and around the world. 

“I think that the difficult thing about metal detectors is that you are trading off a sense of safety on one level of,  ‘We are keeping kids safe, we have metal detectors’ but then we look at some issues across the nation where metal detectors were present and didn’t stop the shootings. So one I am not sure that they are the effective deterrent that people think they are.”

 Lehmann also mentions the largest study of students’ sense of safety and metal detectors conducted by the University of Virginia and how they responded to it. He highlights that the study showed that most students said the metal detectors made them feel unsafe. 

“When I think about it here and the campus, we built in both schools  spaces where kids could have a true sense of entry. On Ben Franklin’s side they have the magnificent cafe and here we have the commons. Those are spaces that give kids a sense of entry like,  ‘I am welcome here.’”

Student Opinions

In an online survey, students were asked if they would feel unsafe to be in school without the presence of metal detectors. Their answers ranged from, “it’s not that it would make me feel UNSAFE, but it makes me feel safer to have them,” to claiming, “they don’t even work in the first place.” 

In the same survey, the participants were also asked if they believe the metal detectors discourage certain items from being brought into school. 55% said yes. They believed that they were beneficial in keeping dangerous weapons out. But many also raised concerns with some prohibited items. 

“Some students are given certain things to keep themselves safe if they take public transportation or walk home but as you can see these metal detectors are taking those away,” one respondent wrote. 

 Numerous people talked about their disappointment and anger when something like scissors or metal utensils were taken from them, both of which they claimed are not weapons and have real purposes.

In the past few months, there has also been a spike of students being caught with contraband like vape pens. The guards have recently been more vigilant with checking bags and making sure students don’t have any prohibited items in their bags. In some cases, the police have been called and students have received punishments outside of the school’s suspension.

Another issue is the line. Some days only one of the two metal detectors is open and the line is out the door. Because of this, many students are late to class. The administration has assured students that no students will be marked late, but that still means missing some of class. 

Despite these challenges, metal detectors will remain a part of SLA no matter what students think of them, and most students have accepted that they will always be a part of their daily life.

“I think they can be annoying, but I understand why we need them.”

Adrie Young, Lia Dunakin, Leo Braveman, Biran Mahmoud

Staff Writer

Whether it’s anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem, SLA students are experiencing an unprecedented increase in mental health issues.

School Counselor Zoe Siswick acknowledged that recently there has been a huge spike in referrals to her office this year, especially among teenage girls.

“Everyone is struggling more with Covid issues,” she said.

This trend is not unique to SLA. According to NPR, in the fall of 2020, pediatricians and hospitals declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health.
SLAMedia knew that students were struggling at school. But was school a part of the problem, or a part of the solution? We set out to talk to everyone involved — and what we discovered is that there is a disconnect between how students are doing and how SLA programs and policies seek to help.

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE

In an anonymous survey, SLA students spoke honestly about how their mental health is impacted by school.

When asked how school impacts them, 93% of students that responded shared that social interactions at school positively affect their mental health, and 83% said academic workload negatively impacts their mental health. Less than 7% of the answers included the school’s counseling services as a positive influence on their mental health.

When asked what they thought teachers, advisors, counselors, or administrators should do differently to better support students’ mental health, we didn’t get many responses. Of the few answers we received, many simply asked for teachers to assign less work.

One student responded, “Talk about what kind of resources SLA has regarding mental health so students are aware.” After interviewing more students on the topic, it became clear that students only have limited information about their options when it comes to mental health support at the school.

“I know that there’s counselor Ms. Siswick, and I think her door is most of the time always open to students, but that’s really all I’ve heard of,” said Sophomore Kara Clapper.

Sophomore Marly Leventon also named limited options.

“I haven’t seen many resources, The only thing that I’ve seen are signs around the hallways and in the stairwell. They’re encouraging, but it doesn’t mention anybody specific that people can go to if they’re having mental health issues.”

Sophomore Leila Chacker struggles with depression, anxiety, and ADHD, but doesn’t use any of the resources that SLA provides to students struggling with their mental health.

“They don’t really advertise them the right way…it’s a lot of, like, really having to advocate for yourself. But that’s not good when it gets to a tipping point and everything becomes really hard…you actually have to go and find out certain things, so I don’t think that’s the best way that [SLA] could do it,” Chacker said.

Does support at SLA go beyond a counselor and encouraging signs? Why do students have to work so hard to get the help they need?

STAFF PERSPECTIVE

We asked Ms. Siswick if she thinks the school does an adequate job of being proactive and supporting students’ mental health issues.

“SLA has two counselors. One is focused on college and one is focused on socioemotional support. We don’t have the physical human power capacity to be able to provide for all our students’ best needs,” she said.

She also spoke about the students she’s seen, whose mental health issues typically revolve around stress and anxiety. “I think a lot of [mental health issues] start outside of school, and the school can add to it,” said Ms. Siswick.

Ms. Siswick talked about her “open-door policy”, where students can go into her office and seek help at any time. “I would love to have a full-time therapist on staff here so that I could have 40 students a week have full-time therapy sessions”, she added.

Ms. Siswick also knows there are many other students with mental health problems who don’t seek her help. She explained how talking to your advisor is always an option, and that teachers are constantly looking for new ways to provide structure and support – for example, providing students with checkpoints for projects.

Ann Leanness, the assistant principal, also spoke to us about some of the resources surrounding mental health available for students at SLA. “We have some counselors, a school psychologist, and a retired school psychologist who comes to school to work with some students.”

We asked Ms. Siswick how kids who need help with mental health get referred to these resources.

“They would bring an insurance card with them or take a photo of it. Then there is a website with a filter, where you put in insurance, issue and you can read a description of a therapist”

TEACHER PERSPECTIVE

In our survey, we also asked students how mindful they think SLA teachers are of their students’ mental health, both when planning their classes and when teaching. Almost half of the respondents – 14 out of 30 – thought teachers were neutral on this, neither ignoring nor catering to students’ needs.

In her interview, Chacker told us that, “A lot of the teachers are very understanding, but some of them are not. A few teachers that I’ve had would change the weight on my quarter grades so that it would more reflect what I was working on, but other ones didn’t really help.”

9th and 10th-grade History teacher Daniel Symonds talked about how he rarely considers mental health when lesson planning, but feels that it is important, for his class especially, to include trigger warnings for specific content being taught.

He also mentioned the concept of ‘the ethic of care’, which are teaching values that new employees at SLA are taught and encouraged to follow.

“I think the ethic of care is inclusive of mental health,” Mr. Symonds said. His goal is “to create an environment where people are comfortable,” such as not provoking students’ anxieties and having space for different personalities in the classroom.

Mr. Symonds talked about how he has noticed a decline in social interactions and focus in his classroom after students attended virtual school for a year and a half. He stated that this time has made it more obvious to him that kids are not good at having times where they are not stimulated.

“The pandemic has ushered in a much wider and deeper issue in students disengaging in school and finding outlets for their frustration through sleeping, eating, smoking, other drugs, and devious licks,” he said.

He explained that he believes that development happens through social interactions. That’s why he is very adamant about talking to kids about less screen time. It is a habit that he thinks everyone should become aware of.

CONCLUSION

Virtual school took a toll on many students’ overall mental health, but students at SLA have communicated that social interactions during in-person school have left positive marks. Chacker herself noted that as a strength of the school.

“I think the community here is really great,” she stated. “A lot of the people are very supportive.”

However, the gap between resources and students making use of them remains.
Many students aren’t aware of the options at their disposal, and if they are, the resources don’t feel easily accessible.

Even with life getting as back to normal with Covid as it can get, students are still struggling, whether it’s about academic workload or reasons outside of school.

“SLA should have more widely open and accessible resources for kids struggling with school or personal reasons that feel safe and comfortable,” Chacker said.

Dinah Soloway Staff Writer

“Congrats on finishing Keystones! You’re the best.” I found this note hanging on my locker. A few days after having a couple of long days of testing in September. 

As a public school, SLA is mandated to put students through the Keystone exams — and students who missed them last year due to being out of school had to take them this fall.. As someone coming into a new public school, these keystones were new to me. At my old school I still had taken tests like these, but now as a high schooler in a different setting more nervous feelings about the test came up. 

Students were informed in emails of advisory memos of the plan. Multiple times I saw emails reminding me that keystones were just a few days away.

 Teachers made a plan that made it easier for everyone to understand that taking the keystones was important. Despite this push on their part, many students decided to opt out of taking the test. It made sense at the time that I wouldn’t opt out of the testing, but I also desperately wanted a break from school testing and studying.

 This year I decided to take them because I wanted to know what the testing was like in high school. My other thought while taking the keystones was if I take a couple of standardized tests this year I should really know what to do and what would help next year when I take the ACT or SAT. In the end, it was already decided by my parents after their word I couldn’t really argue. 

When testing, students were assigned rooms by stream and grade to make the process easier and run more smoothly. When the test was over, Small group testing for kids who got extended time was separated from their big group to complete their testing. 

Each room had an assigned teacher to guide students through the specific directions on the pamphlets. During the test-taking, there were many specific restrictions that the teacher would have to read even though kids had heard them before.. The structure of having an important test made me feel pressured as a student. Putting rules on how we take tests and show our work and learning. Even though tests do not always show how well of a student someone is, we all know the importance of taking them for our preparation for college and school life.

After a day of taking a test, SLA students went back to normal class periods. As most students had come to school to take a test that took almost half a day, my brain was almost fried and wouldn’t want to work. I know that a lot of people wanted to go home after this and sure I can admit I was one of them wanting to go back home, get into bed, and sleep.

After a long morning, I would have just liked to be sent back home to rejuvenate my brain from the hard test. Just imagining my bed back at home just sitting there with nobody using it was a pain. 

 As it was supposed to be a regular school day many kids came into school at 11 when later class periods started back up again. When I walked down the SLA stairs I was greeted by a bunch of students talking each nagging at each other about how well they did. Classes were purposely cut shorter than usual so that our school day would end at 3:05 is a very normal ending time.

When I found the note on my locker the next day, my first thought was:  Why not give these encouraging notes before the important test? I read the note a few days after the testing and only then did my nerves go away.  Everything felt so nerve-racking. Including the waiting for other tests, we would have to prepare for. 

That being said, receiving the note after testing did help the nerves calm down for many students. Almost making it easier to get back to regular classwork.

I know that this is not the end of having to take standardized tests in high school. The next time I hear about any standardized test coming up I will definitely look at it a little differently than what I thought about the keystones. When I decide to take a test or have one coming up in school. I’m the kind of person who forgets about studying a couple days before and just wings it on the day off. Since next year I am heading into junior year I will need to plan out my studying more and get some support from my parents and others. I plan to head face on with any important test that comes my way.