Bracetti Academy, Part 5

Part 5 of 5 – Accentuate the positive NorFilly™ is – or was until getting hooked into this story – a positive magazine. It is a positive resource for young people interested in any of our focus topics, such as photography or technology. It is a positive outlet for teens and young adults to express their views of the world. It is a positive place for schools to share success stories and achievements. As such, we are sincere in…

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Bracetti Academy, Part 4

Part 4 of 5 – Qualified administration Understanding that bit of history brings you up-to-date. Bracetti Academy has gone through a number of appointed and acting administrators, most deemed un- or under-qualified, by the board of trustees or by the educational management organization (EMO), to run the school. The Philadelphia School District cannot, by law, dictate the day-to-day operations of a charter school; it can only advise or suggest where a school might fail to live up to lawful…

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Bracetti Academy, Part 3

Part 3 of 5 – Student voice As promised, in their April 15th edition Focus Newspaper published the writings of several students expressing positive feelings about their school and its staff. While there was never a doubt that the staff at Bracetti School is loving and caring (at least, NF never wrote such), the school felt that it was necessary to point that out. So four students’ works were published to show that for the most part – less…

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Bracetti Academy, Part 2

Part 2 of 5 – NorFilly reflects, Bracetti responds The thing about the first article we ran on the school is the fact that local grassroots newspaper Community Focus also carried the story. Being a lesser known (just a baby) publication, NF took some heat, but not as much as Focus. David Roche, production manager at Focus, received a number of calls about the article, published on the front page of his periodical. Professional to the core, he passed…

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Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School

Part 1 of 5 – Parents scream “Discrimination!”By T Martin (as Escritor X) Last month, several parents supporting Ida Navarro’s fight for a better qualified administration at a local charter school came to NorFilly Magazine with a story. Their story was about how they felt mistreated and misguided about the principles of Bracetti Charter School, located at Kensington Avenue and Cumberland Street, where they thought their children would be given the educational experience for which founding staff members toiled…

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Valid complaints or empty accusations?

Bracetti School discount parent concernsBy T Martin (as Escritor X) Whoa! Hold the phone! NorFilly Magazine published an article on parents’ tales of “humiliation” and “discrimination” last month, but not without some rebuke. In fact, grassroots periodical Community Focus also carried the story last week, receiving several bitter – and rightly so – phone calls. Admittedly, we dismissed much of what was brought to us by parents, even during our interviews, as “normal” for any school setting. However, language…

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Light on the rocks!

2nd quarter shakes things up Dear Readers, Entering our second quarter here at NorFilly™ Magazine, we’re getting a taste of real-world journalism and the headaches that “come with the territory.” With our hat tipped to David Roche of Community Focus Newspaper, we move from junior reporting and cub scouting to approaching real issues and the great black hole of controversy. And we like it. Get hype because this issue represents some serious sweat and really hard work… probably more…

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Spring is here! Is Spring here?

Dear Readers, Spring is here! Is Spring here? Maybe I’m a bit premature in saying so, but it feels as if Spring has already sprung. At NorFilly™ we celebrate the coming of Spring with exciting changes to our young online magazine. We have ongoing conversations with three prospective associate editors on teen issues, current events and technology. We’ve already been featuring sports and entertainment articles, but there is promise of even more! Until then, we have a great magazine…

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Reaching readers through the web

Intended impact of NorFilly™ Online MagazineBy T Martin It isn’t any secret that I’ve wanted to produce a magazine for some time; since early childhood I dreamt of doing something like this, and only now am I able to provide this means for young leaders to get their message out to their peers about how they too can rise above circumstances to succeed. What do I hope comes of it? That others will see in one fulfilled dream the hope…

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Thanks for the memories

A farewell wish to Model CitizensBy T Martin “It’s sad to see the program go especially the purpose behind it, but if one thing is certain, it’s that the memories built, the experiences learned, the differences made, and the benefits I gained from will always be with me.” From an e-mail sent to us in mid-December, this direct quote sums up what we’ve been hearing from participants of Model Citizens since the announcement of the program’s demise. There…

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