Communications Technology High School was a public high school serving grades 9–12 located at 8110 Lyons Avenue in the

Hedgerow A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The school, which was located next to George Pepper Middle School, was part of the

School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...

's Comprehensive High School Region; in its later years, it operated as a campus of

John Bartram High School John Bartram High School is a public secondary school serving neighborhoods of the Southwest Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. History O ...

, which is still in operation. In 2013, amid the rapid growth of publicly-funded charter schools in Philadelphia, the City shut down Communications Technology High School, along with 22 other district-run schools, to cut costs and consolidate the district's remaining students on fewer campuses. Students enrolled at Communications Technology at the time were automatically re-enrolled at the main campus of

History

Communications Technology High School was originally known as the George Wolf School, named for the 19th century Pennsylvania governor nicknamed the "father" of the state's public schools. Construction began on the school building, designed by noted Philadelphia schools architect

Irwin T. Catharine Irwin Thornton Catharine (October 22, 1883 – March 3, 1944) was the chief architect of Philadelphia Public school (government funded), public schools from 1920 until his retirement in 1937. Buildings built during Catharine's tenure ranged from ...

, in 1926, and the project was completed the following year. The building's three yellow brick stories, which are arranged in nine bays with projecting end bays and a raised basement, are built in the Late Gothic Revival-style; the design features an arched main center entrance surrounded by stone, a two-story projecting stone bay window, and a crenellated

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. ''Note:'' This includes The school opened to students on November 18, 1927. Its building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1988. The school's name was later changed to Communications Academy, as the school was made a part of John Bartram High School. In 2005, the name was changed again to Communications Technology High School. As of 2018, the City of Philadelphia planned to convert the former high school to a community center, while the adjacent Pepper Middle School building was slated for demolition. Starting in 2023,

KIPP The Knowledge is Power Program, commonly known as KIPP, is a network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory schools in low income communities throughout the United States. KIPP is America's largest network of charter schools. The head of ...

West Philadelphia preparatory charter school will relocate to the former high school.

School uniforms

Communications Technology High School students were required to wear school uniforms, which consisted of either light blue golf shirts with the school's yellow patch name on the right side of the chest with navy blue or black khaki bottoms and skirts.

Transportation

SEPTA's Route 36 Trolley and Routes 37, 108, and 400-series busses served the area near the school during its operation.

References

External links

* {{authority control Defunct schools in Pennsylvania High schools in Philadelphia Educational institutions established in 1988 Public high schools in Pennsylvania 1988 establishments in Pennsylvania School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1927 Southwest Philadelphia 2013 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Educational institutions disestablished in 2013