West Philly High Needs Clean Water

West Philly High School is a secondary school located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia  on 4901 Chestnut St, Philadelphia PA 19139 with a number of students of 750. West Philadelphia High opened in 1912 with a student population of 5,500. Such was the press on the new high school, which originally stood as two separate buildings for boys and girls http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/w/westphila The West Philadelphia High School athletic field, is located at 48th and Spruce Street, was formally known as Passon Field and home to Negro League baseball in the 1930s. The park was the home field of the Eastern Colored League's Philadelphia Bacharach Giants starting in 1931, and the Negro National League's Philadelphia Stars in 1934 and 1935. The field is still in use by West Philadelphia High School's SPEEDBOYS football team. In September 2011 West Philadelphia High School went to its new location at 4901 Chestnut Street and transitioned into a Promise Academy, thus changing the name to the Promise Academy at West Philadelphia High School.

On instagram Tuesday March 7, 2017 I seen a post that said West Philly High Needs Clean Water! Calling all: Students, Parents/Guardians, Staff, Alumni, and Community members. What: In November West Philadelphia. High School water was unfit to drink (?) Fountains were turned off. Some were replaced w/ filtration stations. Rest room sinks were left on. Packaged meals, bottled water and hand sanitizer was supplied to the school...School District refused to relocate the students and staff. Outsiders using/renting school facilities were not made aware of contained water in the school. When: Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 6:00 PM Where: 4901 Chestnut Street Why: The community must convene to asses this situation and decided what action must be taken to assure quality water for ALL schools. Please spread the word and attend this meeting.

This is sad because I remember being in high school at Paul Robeson for human services located on 41st Ludlow Street in West Philly where I was terrified to drink the water fountains because of the stories I would hear about the water not being clean for Public Schools. While at Paul Robeson although the water was warm we had no choice but to drink the water if we didn't buy a water bottle that would last us 7hours in school. We was close to closing and shutting down but because we was fighting to stay open and not join schools we stayed open, but the real questions is why when Paul Robeson asked to partner with West Philadelphia High School it didn't happen? Is it because people seen Paul Robeson as a trouble school? Did the School District really consider the problems that would disappear because West Philadelphia High has an long history of having problems in the old building before they relocated. Was the water always bad in 2011 or did they fix it enough to last 6 years and think no one would notice????? Stay tuned for the next post when I update every question I have.