This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
by Aaron Moselle for NewsWorks
In a week, Pastorius Elementary’s School Advisory Council will make an important recommendation: which charter school operator it would prefer to turn around the struggling East Germantown school next year.
In advance of that decision, the three organizations selected by the School District of Philadelphia as Renaissance School finalists — Universal Companies, Scholar Academies and Mastery Charter Schools — each made pitches at the East Chelten Avenue school Monday night as they vie to be chosen.
Universal Companies’ pitch
Janis Butler, Universal’s education director, kicked off the presentations in Pastorius’ auditorium.
As she flipped through a series of slides, Butler focused on the individualized attention students would receive with Universal, a community development corporation that operates six charter schools — elementary and high schools — in the city.