Universal Alcorn Charter Elementary School is a

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

located in the

Grays Ferry Grays Ferry, also known as Gray's Ferry, is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia bounded (roughly) by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. The section of this nei ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is located in the historic James Alcorn School building. The building was designed by

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 ...

and built in 1931–1932. It is a three-story, nine bay, yellow brick building on a raised basement in the

Late Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

-style. It features two projecting entrances with stone surrounds, a central entrance with arched opening, a two-story projecting 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 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.

References

External links

* School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1932 South Philadelphia Public elementary schools in Philadelphia Charter schools in Pennsylvania 1932 establishments in Pennsylvania {{PhiladelphiaPA-NRHP-stub