Bill Wagenborg

Bill Wagenborg October 10, 2006 Forum #1 My School

I teach at D.N. Fell Elementary School in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fell is part of the Philadelphia School District and has been in operation since 1927. In forum I will describe my school through three aspects: the students, the staff and the building itself. I hope to provide a clear understanding and picture of Fell School. Fell is made up of a variety of races and ethnicities. It is truly multi-cultural. In order to get a feel for what it is today, you have to understand how it all came about. For many years fell was strictly a neighborhood school. That is all of the population came from the streets surrounding it. This meant it reflected the many Irish and Italian families that resided there. As years went by there were more African –Americans and Asians moving into the neighborhoods and Fell starting busing students in from the surrounding areas as its borders expanded. During the last 6 years, my school grew from K-4 to a K-8. So along with the change in races, there was now a change in ages as well. We have two classes of every grade that contain a well balanced mix of cultures, races and genders. The children range from middle to low income. Since this is not the only school that I have taught at, I can compare these children to others in the school district. For the most part they are well mannered and are not older beyond their years. They are street savvy and have witnessed or experienced things that many kids their age have not, yet they are not hardened by it. They are still kids. The staff at fell is full of experience. The average amount of service is around twelve years. We have some old veterans who have been at for over thirty years and two teachers who are starting their third full year. The staff is predominately women. Out of a staff of fifty –five, there are only five men. The racial balance leans toward the Caucasian side, but it does not dominate. The Fell Staff does truly get along with each other. I am not saying that we are all friends outside of school, we there is not a lot of bickering and backstabbing that you will find in other places. Our principal is also full of experience, as she has been at the helm for eighteen years. Fell is a place where teachers looking to transfer many times list as choice destination. The building itself is very old and looks like a typical Philadelphia public school on the outside. That is it is made of brown stone and brick and has big metal brown and green doors. Fell has a basement and three floors that are in a ‘U’ shape. The basement contains the gym, the lunchroom, the janitor’s office and the instrumental room. On the first floor there is the main office, the auditorium, kindergarten ,first and second grades, as well as the only men’s bathroom in the school.. The second floor contains the teachers lounge, the library, the art room and the third, fourth and fifth grades. My floor, the third floor, houses the music and computer room, my science lab, and the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. There are two main stairwells in the front of the building and two smaller stairwells that connect the first floor to the tiny, tiny school yard. The rooms themselves are all pretty much the same. Chipped dark paint, two blackboards and wooden floors are included in all. The exceptions are the two eighth grade rooms and the science lab. They are newly renovated and have marble floors, fresh white paint, white boards, air conditions and “Smart Boards.” Fell to me is my second home. It is where I spend a good portion of my day and it is where I make my living. It is old and leaks when it rains, but it has character. It houses a diverse group of urban children and a well seasoned faculty of teachers and staff. I consider myself lucky to go and work there ten months a year.