Education in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania began with Benjamin Franklin's founding of the University of Pennsylvania as a European styled school and America's first university. Today's Philadelphia region is home to nearly 300,000 college students, numerous private and parochial secondary schools, and the 8th largest school district in the country.
Public schools system: School District of Philadelphia
Philadelphia is served by the School District of Philadelphia, which operates 242 of the city's public schools, including 163 elementary schools, 23 middle schools, and 56 high schools.
The school district is governed by the nine-member Board of education, appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia. This Board of Education replaced the previous School Reform Commission in 2018.
There are 84 independently operated charter schools, which make up the remainder of the public schools in Philadelphia. Charter schools are authorized by the School District of Philadelphia, and are accountable to it.
Parochial schools Philadelphia is home to the most extensive Catholic education system in the United States. Along with hundreds of parish-based elementary schools, there are also twelve Catholic high schools within the city ranging from Archdiocesan high schools to private Catholic high schools. All of the Catholic schools are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Private schools Frankford Friends School, a Quaker school grades PK-8, under the care of Frankford Monthly Meeting French International School of Philadelphia, the French international school serving the Philadelphia area, is in nearby Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Friends Select School, a Quaker school grades PK-12, under the care of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia Germantown Friends School, a Quaker school grades PK-12, school under the care of Germantown Monthly Meeting Girard College, a primary and secondary educational institution, was endowed by French-American merchant, mariner and banker, Stephen Girard, opening its doors to disadvantaged youth in 1848. Greene Street Friends School, a Quaker school grades PK-8, school under the care of Green Street Monthly Meeting Holmesburg Christian Academy, a non-denominational evangelical Christian school in NE Philadelphia for grades PK-8, was founded in 1975 as a ministry of Holmesburg Baptist Church. Philadelphia Free School, a Sudbury school PK-12 Philadelphia Mennonite High School, a Mennonite high school in the Fairmount neighborhood Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, (formerly Springside School and Chestnut Hill Academy, respectively) a school grades PK-12 located in the Chestnut Hill section of the city St. Peter's School, an independent, coeducational, nonsectarian PK-8 school in the Society Hill neighborhood William Penn Charter School was founded by Penn in 1689, is the oldest Quaker school in the nation, under the care of the Board of Overseers.
Friends Schools League The Friends' Schools League (FSL) is an athletic league made up of student athletes from several private high schools in the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania. As the league's name suggests, it consists primarily of Quaker schools, though in recent years several other schools have become part of the league as well.
Member schools Member schools include: Abington Friends School Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools Friends Central School Friends Select School George School Germantown Friends School The Shipley School Westtown School Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
Miscellaneous weekend education The Japanese Language School of Philadelphia (JLSP, フィラデルフィア日本語補習授業校 Firaderufia Nihongo Hoshū Jugyō Kō), a supplementary Japanese school, holds its classes, intended for Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans, at the Friends Central School (FCS) in nearby Wynnewood."Directions ." Japanese Language School of Philadelphia. Retrieved on March 30, 2014. "The Japanese Language School of Philadelphia utilizes the campus of: Friends Central School 1101 City Avenue, Wynnewood, PA""Community Profile ." Lower Merion Township. Retrieved on April 30, 2014. (contains maps of Lower Merion).
Higher education Philadelphia is one of the largest college towns in the U.S., with over 120,000 college and university students enrolled within the city limits and nearly 300,000 in the metropolitan area.
Colleges and Universities within the city: The Art Institute of Philadelphia Chestnut Hill College Community College of Philadelphia Curtis Institute of Music Drexel University Holy Family University La Salle University Moore College of Art and Design Peirce College Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Philadelphia University The Restaurant School Saint Joseph's University Temple University Thomas Jefferson University University of the Arts University of the Sciences in Philadelphia University of PennsylvaniaColleges and universities near Philadelphia include: Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College), in Glenside, Pennsylvania Bryn Athyn College of the New Church, in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr College, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bucks County Community College, with campuses in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Perkasie, Pennsylvania Cabrini College, in Radnor Cairn University (formerly Philadelphia Biblical University), in Langhorne, Pennsylvania Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, in Cheyney, Pennsylvania College of New Jersey, Ewing Township, New Jersey Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, New Jersey Delaware County Community College, located in Marple Township, Pennsylvania Delaware Valley College, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania Eastern University (formerly Eastern College), in St. David's, Pennsylvania Gratz College, in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania Gwynedd Mercy University, Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania Harcum College, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Haverford College, in Haverford, Pennsylvania Immaculata University, in Malvern, Pennsylvania Lafayette College, in Easton, Pennsylvania Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Lincoln University, located in Chester County, Pennsylvania Manor College, in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Montgomery County Community College, in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania Neumann University, in Aston, Pennsylvania Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey Pennsylvania Institute of Technology, in Media, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State University - (Abington Campus) in Abington, the (Brandywine Campus) in Media, and the (Great Valley Graduate School) in Malvern, Pennsylvania Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, in Wyncote, Pennsylvania Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey Rosemont College, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Rowan University, in Glassboro and Camden, New Jersey Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, in Stratford, New Jersey Rutgers University - (Camden Campus), in Camden, New Jersey St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania Salus University, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Swarthmore College, in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Temple University - Ambler Campus, in Ambler, Pennsylvania University of Delaware, in Newark, Delaware Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pennsylvania Valley Forge Military Academy and College, in Wayne, Pennsylvania Villanova University, in Villanova, Pennsylvania West Chester University of Pennsylvania, in West Chester, Pennsylvania Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania Widener University, in Chester, Pennsylvania Widener University School of Law, in Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington University, in Wilmington, Delaware
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