After interviewing multiple classroom mentors, a former teacher still working at the school, and the leaders of an after-school program for students, a few salient themes relating to Furness High School and the neighborhood emerged. Below these themes are outlined, followed by opinions expressed by those interviewed.
ESOL Students
- ESOL students have a good reputation, according to one teacher, because they are polite, show up every day, and are easy to discipline.
- Teachers agree that the language barrier is a problem
- After-school program leaders note that bilingual students help new immigrants with translation in school
- ESOL students are largely segregated from the rest of the population; they even have separate lunches. One teacher adds that this makes sense academically, but is socially isolating. Sometimes other students don't know who the ESOL students are.
- The parents of ESOL students attend open house events more than other parents. Other parents are usually responsive to contact from the school, but may have work or other issues that keep them from attending.
- The school has a strong ESOL department.
Building
- Every teacher interviewed talked about the effect of the building being old and in disrepair.
- The top floor is off-limits because students were hospitalized due to heat exhaustion when learning in fourth floor classrooms.
- Holes in the roof lead to significant water leakage into classrooms when it rains. One teacher says she keeps buckets in her classroom to catch the rainwater. Another teacher says the entire roof repair would cost "millions of dollars," so instead the school makes minor, temporary fixes.
- Mold is a problem in the building, and teachers and students get sick from it. One teacher had a mushroom growing in her classroom.
- According to one teacher, the school is so dirty at this point that it is impossible to clean, and encourages students to stop caring about making it worse.
- The community is allowed to use the school parking lot in off-hours; neighborhood residents leave beer cans and trash all over the parking lot.
- Lunch is overcrowded, although the student population has declined, which teachers agree is a good thing, because teachers get to know their students better.
technology
- There seems to be a consensus that, "technology is not a problem" at the school.
- There are four computer labs and six laptop carts, although the laptops are relatively old and slow.
- Classrooms have smart boards, speakers, and projectors.
- One teacher bought two printers himself for his classroom, and replaced all of the chalk boards in it with white boards.
Neighborhood
- Most residents of the neighborhood do not attend Furness, and instead go to Catholic schools, Central, Palumbo, or charters.
- This has been true for the recent history of the school. (last 15 years)
- Furness is located in a predominantly white area which does not align with the population of the school.
- Students do community service work in the neighborhood through Build On, a school run community service group. The school has a full-time staff member who coordinates these projects.
- Teachers agree that the neighborhood has a negative perception of the school. According to one teacher, students, "act crazy" when they get out of school at the end of the day, and this is all the neighborhood sees.
Standardized Testing
- One teacher tells us that, "standardized testing is out of control." The students used to take the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) in 9th grade; now they take the Keystones in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade and must pass every year to graduate.
- There are six days of testing in January and six in May.
- “The school shuts down. The business of the school, the business of the classroom, is interrupted... It’s a pretty deleterious effect.”
- One teacher feels that the school has a heavy focus on students passing the Keystones and going to college.
diversity
- The diversity of the school has increase over the past 14 years.
- The school has Cambodian, Bhutanese, Nepali, Chinese, and Pakistani students, among other groups.
- There were thirteen ethnic identities at graduation.
- One teacher says, "we have a diverse population and we use that to our advantage. It's such a unique environment to work in."
- The after-school program leaders describe the Asian population "taking" South Philadelphia, and say that "whites don't seem to stick with the program."
- One teacher described racial tensions existing between diverse groups in the hallway. When she and other teachers tried to address this, higher-ups did not take action.
- There is a multicultural fair twice a year in which a diverse group of students take part, both immigrants and native students.