Kristen A. Graham
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Philadelphia Inquirer education reporter, Pulitzer Prize winner covering Philadelphia public schools. Phillies superfan. Always learning. DMs/open.
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Articles by Kristen A. Graham
A Chestnut Hill elementary school sent 350 kids home amid water woes
Nearly 400 students were sent home from a Chestnut Hill elementary school Wednesday after a disruption of water service. J.S. Jenks Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Philadelphia School District school on Germantown Avenue, dismissed its students at 10:30 a.m. The school had no hot water on Monday, according to people inside the building; students were off Tuesday for Election Day, and at least parts of Jenks had no water at all Wednesday.
Every Philly school now offers students free breakfast - after classes begin
Every Philadelphia student now has access to free breakfast, served after classes begin. The Philadelphia School District has long been a universal free meal district, meaning all students qualify for free breakfast and lunch, regardless of income or circumstance. But participation in breakfast especially had been spotty — because of the stigma for some families around accepting free food, and, in many cases, because students didn’t arrive at school early enough to eat before the bell rang.
This Philly educator earned a national rep. He’s proudest of the students he inspired to be teachers
This is a big month for Sharif El-Mekki.Philadelphia is naming a street after him, and a conference he conceived will draw over 1,500 people to the city to discuss issues that have put him on a national educational stage. That’s all great, said El-Mekki, founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development. But he keeps coming back to what really matters to him the most. “We’ve got to invite young people into the profession,” El-Mekki he said. His invitations have worked.
Philadelphia School district seeks to fire social studies curriculum director amid antisemitism concerns
An outspoken educator once lauded and entrusted by the Philadelphia School District to direct the social studies curriculum is fighting to keep his job as the district faces sustained political pressure over allegations of stoking anti-Israel sentiment. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. disclosed the revelation to Congress at a hearinginitiated this fall as part of a federal probe of alleged antisemitism in the district —the second such investigation since the Oct.
Philly’s school board just approved $200M in school renovation projects
The Philadelphia school board on Thursday night greenlit spending up to $200 million on modernization projects at four city schools. The board voted to award a contract to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, which will handle selecting firms to run the projects, deemed the district’s highest-priority renovations.
A prayer for immigrants: dozens of nuns and human-rights leaders gather outside ICE office in Center City
Calling the plight of immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers a defining moral challenge of the age, scores of nuns, religious and human-rights activists gathered outside the Philadelphia ICE headquarters on Wednesday to pray for change. They held signs and small wooden handmade crosses, each of the latter bearing the name of someone who died in ICE custody during the last two years.
GOP-led House committee accuses Philly schools of teaching students to ‘hate Israel,’ and ‘embrace radical’ ideas
Some Philadelphia School District employees promote antisemitism, and the school system indoctrinates students with radical ideas as young as second grade, a Republican-led congressional committee concluded in a report released Wednesday and challenged by district officials. The House Education and Workforce Committee reached its determinations after poring through hundreds of pages of records, including social media belonging to individual teachers, and interviewing Superintendent Tony B.
Classes are too big, and students don’t have enough resources, staff say at a “rally for Temple’s future”
Waving signs and chanting, more than 100 Temple University students and employees rallied Wednesday to protest cuts across the university and health system. “Who makes Temple work? We make Temple work!” they shouted. Temple laid off 300 workers and raised tuition 3.4% this year.
Superintendent Watlington explains why 720 students who haven’t been to school this year were reenrolled
The Philadelphia School District was right to put back on its books 720 students who have not attended a day of school this year, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said. “Let me be very clear — this isn’t about cooking the books, this isn’t about padding enrollment,” Watlington said in an Inquirer interview.
Digital hall passes that track students’ locations are in use in 37 Philly schools. Here’s how they work.
The hallways at Baldi Middle School are calm, but with over 1,500 students to keep track of, Principal Bianca Gillis said, trouble sometimes crops up — children attempting to meet up in the bathroom to do their makeup, or vape, or otherwise cause trouble. Gillis has wanted to use a digital hall pass system to be able to keep tabs on students leaving class for three years, since she came to the Northeast Philadelphia school.
3 Philly schools just won $600,000 in from Jeff and Janine Yass
Janine and Jeffrey Yass, the Pennsylvania billionaires who have poured millions into school-choice causes, gave away $600,000 to three Philadelphia schools this week. Salt & Light Academy for Boys won $500,000 as a finalist for the Yass Prize; Girard College, and Cooking4Autism each won $50,000 as semifinalists. The awards were given Tuesday at the conclusion of a summit on education innovation held at the National Constitution Center, which featured speakers including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Students who moved out of the country were put back on Philly schools’ rolls Original
Just before an important funding deadline, the Philadelphia School District reenrolled students who had been dropped from school rosters — students who, in some cases, had moved out of the country months prior, and have not attended a single class this year. The move came as the district grapples with lower-than-projected enrollment citywide. District schools were 4,236 students under their projected enrollment as of Sept. 17, according to internal documents obtained by The Inquirer.
Temple enrolled a record number of first-year students in 2025. But it lost nearly a quarter of them
The pitches from Temple University came almost daily. “You belong at Temple,” one email insisted. Another said, “Your future starts at Temple.” Day, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her privacy, sifted through the barrage of emails as a Middletown, Del., high school senior graduating in 2024. She was ultimately persuaded, and she enrolled that fall.
Alliance for Progress Charter School’s CEO is out
Alliance for Progress Charter School, a North Philadelphia charter roiled by turmoil, has a new leader. Emmanuel George is now interim Chief Executive Officer, the school’s board of directors chair said in an “important leadership update” recently sent to families. He replaces Stacey Scott, who served as Alliance’s CEO for several years. Scott hails from New York City,where he spent a 16-year career as an educator and administrator in the charter sector.
After an identity hoax, one Philly educators’ group dissolves and another goes on hiatus Original
After being dupedby Hannah Gann, one organization closely affiliated with the Philadelphia School District teacher and activist is dissolving, and another is on a two-month hiatus pending a decision about its future. The moves come after Gann admitted she lied for years about her identity, claiming at times to be Palestinian, Tunisian, and Black — devastating both groups and drawing national attention to her deception.
State reps ask Pa. attorney general to investigate the Philly schools for alleged discrimination of Jewish students
A group of state representatives want Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday to whether investigate whether a “systemic pattern of discrimination” against Jewish students occurs in the Philadelphia School District.
Philly schools are missing thousands of students. District employees are knocking on doors to get them back.
The Philadelphia School District is thousands of students under its enrollment projections this school year — and with an important funding deadline looming, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. is sending officials knocking on doors to drum up business. Central office staff and school workers have been asked to fast-track “Enrollment Acceleration,” a new, district-specific programdirectly engaging families that have left the Philadelphia school system, The Inquirer has learned.
What happens when kids who witness gun violence go to school? This Philly program aims to help.
In the past, Principal Shauneille Taylor had no way of knowing when one of the children at Edward Gideon Elementary School had witnessed a shooting, or an incidence of domestic violence, or seen a parent arrested. The child might walk into the North Philadelphia school the next day and act aggressively, or appear withdrawn, or shut down, and adults would wonder why — sometimes, they might even assign disciplinary consequences for acting out.
A final day at the Academy of Natural Sciences bring tears, nostalgia and disbelief
Rene Garner cried even before the doors swung open Sunday to admit visitors to the last-ever day of operation for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. “I feel so sad,” said Garner, a retired educator who brought classes to the museum for years and credits her son’s love of science to summers spent learning at the academy’s summer camp.
These 32 Philadelphia middle school students just got their white coats, on a path to becoming doctors someday
When Martha Glasco was growing up in North Philadelphia, she said, her opportunities were limited. So when a teacher told Glasco — now an adult with a bright child of her own — about a new program that aimed to give promising Philadelphia kids six years of medical-school education with an eye toward careers in healthcare, Glasco was thrilled.
PSSA scores are still missing in Philly, but the district won’t go test optional - school board roundup
Leo Stober, an eighth grader at Science Leadership Academy Middle School, is frustrated. He’s thinking about applying to selective Philadelphia School District high schools, but the process is now stymied by what officials said was a delay in the release of state test scores. So Leo sat in front of the Philadelphia school board Thursday night to air his concerns. Not having access to scores “is quite frankly disrespectful, not only to the students, but also to the teachers,” Leo said.
Girls’ High students protested overcrowding, including multiple classes with 50-plus students
Sa’Mya Cook is a bright, eager 10th grader at the storied Philadelphia High School for Girls, but second period is tough for everyone. Cook is crowded into a classroom with 50 other teenagers. It’s hot, and there are not enough desks, with spillover students grabbing seats in folding chairs lining the classroom. “It’s too much,” Cook said of her Girls’ High African American history class.
Activists fooled by Hannah Gann want Philly schools to hold her accountable for hurting students
The teacher activists who organized alongside Hannah Gann want accountability for the vulnerable students who believed the Philadelphia School District teacher was someone she was not.
A Philadelphia teacher pretended to be Black and Palestinian, "a betrayal" of the activists she supported
A Philadelphia teacher is being called the “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal” after being caught lying about her background — a deception that has stirred strong emotions in education and racial justice organizing circles.
Philly’s school bus drivers, cleaners and maintenance workers are getting 9.5% raises in a “life-changing” contract
Philadelphia School District school bus drivers, cleaners and building engineers have approved a new contract — and will get 9.5% raises over the three years of the deal. Workers, who met to vote in person at Benjamin Franklin High Friday, will also get $2,350 in bonuses. The contract provides the first-ever parental leave for 32BJ members - 25 paid days off after the birth of a child, effective Jan. 1. That perk mirrors the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’ contract, signed last summer.
Jalen Hurts donated $600,000 for AC at Philadelphia’s largest high school
Jalen Hurts was watching morning TV three years ago when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. “I was very blown away by school not being canceled for snow, not for a hurricane or tropical storm, but for lack of AC,” the Eagles star quarterback said Tuesday. So Hurts went about doing something to fix that. On Tuesday, he stood on Northeast High’s stage to announce his foundation was putting up $600,000 to air condition the school’s auditorium.
‘The kids are not learning’: employees inside a North Philly charter detail chaos inside their school
The leadership meeting happened at mid-afternoon on a Tuesday at Alliance for Progress Charter School: It was a small huddle to discuss how the new school year was going. Unexpectedly, CEO Stacey Scott burst into the Aug. 25 meeting held inside themain office, disrupting the discussion. “You b—!” Scott said to the principal, Eric Langston, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the meeting. She then spoke to the others in the room.
A former Philly principal must repay $31k in school book fair, trip and class dues money
The former principal of a Northeast Philadelphia elementary is on the hook for $31,000 paid to the school by students but never deposited into its bank account. According to the Philadelphia School District's Inspector General, the former principal of Robert Pollock Elementary, Yvette Jackson, received the money from events including book fairs, holiday bazaars and class trips — plus dues for graduating eighth graders — but “failed to deposit proceeds.” Jackson has since retired.
A former Philly principal must repay $31k in school book fair, trip and class dues money
The former principal of a Northeast Philadelphia elementary is on the hook for $31,000, money paid by students but never deposited into the school’s bank account. According to the Philadelphia School District’s Inspector General, Yvette Jackson, the now-retired principal of Robert Pollock Elementary, received tens of thousands from events including book fairs, holiday bazaars and class trips — plus dues for graduating eighth graders — but the money never made it to the bank.
Teaching in Philly can be tough. At some schools, so is finding a place to park.
Listen to article -0:00 min The math is simple: There are 11 parking spots reserved for Academy at Palumbo teachers and 107 teachers and staff at the South Philadelphia school. There's no parking lot and people who work at the acclaimed magnet school tend to drive, teachers say. Though public transportation is an option for some school staff, many teachers live outside the city, with fewer transit options nearby.
Teaching in Philly can be tough. At some schools, so is finding a place to park.
The math is simple: There are 11 parking spots reserved for Academy at Palumbo teachers and 107 teachers and staff at the South Philadelphia school. There’s no parking lot and people who work at the acclaimed magnet school tend to drive, teachers say. Though public transportation is an option for some school staff, many teachers live outside the city, with fewer transit options nearby.
A Philly charter and its former CEO will pay $4 million to resolve claims they discriminated against Black students
Listen to article -0:00 min A Philadelphia charter and its former CEO have agreed to pay nearly $4 million to resolve claims they discriminated against Black students in the school's admissions lottery. Franklin Towne Charter High School, in the Northeast, deliberately fixed its 2023 lottery to exclude students from certain majority-Black ZIP codes, Franklin Towne administrator Patrick Field told The Inquirer that year.
A Philly charter and its former CEO will pay $4 million to resolve claims they discriminated against Black students
A Philadelphia charter and its former CEO have agreed to pay nearly $4 million to resolve claims they discriminated against Black students in the school's admissions lottery. Franklin Towne Charter High School, in the Northeast, deliberately fixed its 2023 lottery to exclude students from certain majority-Black ZIP codes, Franklin Towne administrator Patrick Field told The Inquirer that year.
A Philly charter and its former CEO will pay $4 million to resolve claims they discriminated against Black students
A Philadelphia charter and its former CEO have agreed to pay nearly $4 million to resolve claims they discriminated against Black students in the school’s admissions lottery. Franklin Towne Charter High School, in the Northeast, deliberately fixed its 2023 lottery to exclude students from certain majority-Black ZIP codes, Franklin Towne administrator Patrick Field told The Inquirer that year.
Philly’s school bus drivers, cleaners and maintenance workers have a new contract Original
The people who drive Philadelphia School District buses and clean and maintain its buildings have a tentative contract. The district and negotiating team from 32BJ SEIU District 1201, which represents 2,000 workers, reached a deal right at the wire: 32BJ’s old contract was set to expired Monday at 11:59 p.m. Officials declined to disclose the terms of the deal, but 32BJ was making no secret of its asks. The big one was more money for its workers, who are among the lowest paid in the district.
With no PSSA scores in sight, Philly is pushing back its special-admissions deadline
The Philadelphia School District has pushed back the application window for its 37 magnet schools. The news hinges on PSSA scores, which have not been released to the public by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Instead of students submitting applications for the 2027-28 school year between Sept. 8 and Oct. 30, as originally announced, the application window will now open Oct. 5 and close Nov. 24, officials announced Monday night.
In Philadelphia’s school closure process, here’s where you can help
Chris Johnson, principal of Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, looked at the students in front of him — 10th and 11th graders at Parkway West, a school that’s closing in June. “What’s coming up for you?” Johnson asked them. “Division,” one student said plainly. SLA Beeber won’t be doing that, Johnson said. On the first day of school last week, Johnson told his students if they were going tohave issuesaccepting the Parkway West kids coming next year, they could leave.
52 Philly schools will dismiss early Tuesday because of predicted heat
With temperatures expected to get close to 90 degrees later this week, some Philadelphia schools will dismiss early Tuesday. Fifty-two schools still lack air conditioning. The Philadelphia School District’s extreme-weather protocol means that if temperatures are forecast to reach or exceed 85 degrees by noon, those schools dismiss early; if it hits 85 degrees by 9 a.m., the call is for remote learning.
This educator just gave away his 5 millionth book — and will give away thousands to Philly and N.J. teachers this year
Inside a cavernous warehouse just off a Cherry Hill interstate, Larry Abrams spread his arms, gesturing to the sea of industrial-size cardboard boxes that surrounded him. “We’re sitting on a rocket ship,” said Abrams, a third-generation teacher. Abrams’ rocket ship is comprised of books: thousands and thousands of them — picture books and out-of-date science textbooks, cookbooks, and battered novels. He sees them as a way to change kids’ life trajectories.
Measles outbreaks present ‘very real threats’ in Philly schools. Here’s how officials are working to prevent them.
Families with kids in tow lined up at Benjamin Franklin High School Thursday for a one-stop shop: physicals, mental health services, vision screenings, and, perhaps most importantly, vaccines. The Philadelphia School District is making a full-court press to get its vaccination rates up, amid a statewide measles outbreak and news that some city schools saw double-digit declines in kindergarten immunization rates in the 2025-26 school year - leaving communities vulnerable to further measles spread.
Paying parents to become influencers and other priorities for Philly schools superintendent in 2026-27
Listen to article -0:00 min Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. zigzagged the city Monday, visiting seven schools across the city to start the 2026-27 year. The late-summer weather was perfect, sunny but not sweltering - an important factor in a school system laden with old buildings, where extreme heat sometimes means about a quarter of the district's 113,000-plus students cannot learn in person or at all, Watlington is hoping that the back-to-school weather was an omen.
Paying parents to become influencers and other priorities for Philly schools superintendent in 2026-27
Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. zig-zagged the city Monday, visiting seven schools across the city to start the 2026-27 year. The late-summer weather was perfect, sunny but not sweltering — an important factor in a school system laden with old buildings, where extreme heat sometimes means about a quarter of the district’s 113,000 students can’t learn in-person or at all, Watlington is hoping that the back-to-school weather was an omen.
113,000 Philly students head back to school
Eighth graders tossed a football across the concrete schoolyard. A fourth grader broke into a dead run, intent on catching up with friends she hadn’t seen all summer. A teacher hugged a first grader with a shy smile and a giant pink backpack crammed with school supplies. The scene at Overbrook Elementary played out across the city Monday morning as 113,000 Philadelphia students returned to class for the start of the 2026-27 school year. At McClure Elementary in Hunting Park, Superintendent Tony B.
113,000 Philly kids are heading back to class Monday. Here are 4 things to know about the coming school year.
School begins Monday for about 113,000 Philadelphia School District students. Janis Butler, the interim principal of Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary in South Philadelphia, has decades of experience in teaching and administration. But she is still thrilled at the prospect of personally welcoming back Coppin’s 500-plus students. “It’s a rah-rah, we’re back in business now,” Butler said. Here is what to know about the 2026-27 school year. School is cool.
Kensington High kids will go to Meehan after a Philly judge denies an injunction to stop the relocation
Listen to article -0:00 min Kensington High students can begin the 2026-27 school year at the former Austin Meehan Middle School in the Northeast, on Monday - despite a lawsuit that hoped to halt the relocation before classes begin. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher R. Hall on Friday declined to issue an emergency injunction that would have prevented moving Kensington students to Meehan, a now-empty Northeast middle school. Asbestos issues rendered Kensington's E.
Kensington High kids will go to Meehan after a Philly judge denies an injunction to stop the relocation
Kensington High students can begin the 2026-27 school year at the former Austin Meehan Middle School in the Northeast, on Monday — despite a lawsuit that hoped to halt the relocation before classes begin. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher R. Hall on Friday declined to issue an emergency injunction that would have prevented moving Kensington students to Meehan, a now-empty Northeast middle school.
A Lincoln High parent and Mayfair resident want a judge to halt the move of Kensington HS students to a Northeast Philly school
Listen to article -0:00 min A Lincoln High parent and a Mayfair resident are attempting to block the planned relocation of Kensington High School students to the former Austin Meehan Middle School in the Northeast. Harold Brown, a Lincoln parent, and Peter McDermott, who is active in Mayfair civic life and Democratic politics, filed suit Thursday against the Philadelphia School District, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr., and the city itself in Common Pleas Court.
The Philly School District, with 70,000 empty seats, will spend $7M for a lease for a single school
The Philadelphia school board voted Thursday night to spend up to $7 million on rental space to house a district high school in Center City. The four-year agreement — the district will pay $1.7 million annually for two years, then $1.8 million and $1.9 million in the final two years — covers classrooms and related spaces at 18 S. Seventh St., the longtime home of Constitution High School.
What happens next for Philly schools that are closing or receiving closing schools? Here’s how to weigh in.
The Philadelphia School District will soon offer a new way to have a say in how Philadelphia school closings, mergers and other transitions happen. The district announced Thursday that it will soon open applications for 50 transition teams to help manage what comes next for a host of schools — those closing or beginning phaseouts at the end of the 2026-27 school year, and those receiving students from those schools in 2027-28.
A Lincoln High parent and Mayfair resident want a judge to halt the move of Kensington HS students to a Northeast Philly school
A Lincoln High parent and a Mayfair resident are attempting to block the planned relocation of Kensington High School students to the former Austin Meehan Middle School in the Northeast. Harold Brown, a Lincoln parent, and Peter McDermott, who’s active in Mayfair civic life and Democratic politics, filed suit against the Philadelphia School District, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr., and the city itself in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Thursday.
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