Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter, formerly Simon Gratz High School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

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 ...

, named after Simon Gratz (1840-1925), a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education. Originally a public high school operated by 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 ...

, Gratz has been operated as 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 ...

by Mastery Schools since September 2011. Students from the previous public school's enrollment area are eligible to attend. It is the fifth Philadelphia high school operated by Mastery. In 2012, the school was removed from the Persistently Dangerous Schools List while under the new management of Mastery. Part of the building is used for Mastery’s Prep Middle School (7-8th grade).

School uniforms

Gratz students are required to wear

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

s consisting of red Simon Gratz uniform shirts, black pants or black shirt, and any color shoes.

Notable alumni

George J. Alexander
Dean Emeritus of Santa Clara Law School *Harriett Amster, psychologist; pioneering researcher and lecturer in verbal meaning and lexical ambiguity processing *

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor lea ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player * Pat Kelly (outfielder),

player *

Bennie Briscoe "Bad" Bennie Briscoe (February 8, 1943 – December 28, 2010) was an American professional boxer. A fan favorite for his punching power, he was known as the "quintessential Philadelphia boxer," and one of the greatest fighters of his era who due ...

, boxer * Zack Clayton, member of Basketball Hall of Fame * Roderick Coleman, NFL player *

Mardy Collins Maurice Rodney "Mardy" Collins (born August 4, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He completed his college basketball career at Temple University, and was drafted by the New York Knicks with the 29th pick of the first ro ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player *

Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...

, singer *

David Goodis David Loeb Goodis (March 2, 1917 – January 7, 1967) was an American writer of crime fiction noted for his output of short stories and novels in the noir fiction genre. Born in Philadelphia, Goodis alternately resided there and in New York Cit ...

writer *

William H. Gray III William Herbert Gray III (August 20, 1941 – July 1, 2013) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who represented from 1979 to 1991. He also served as chairman of the House Committee on the Budget from 1985 to 1989 and ...

, U.S. Congressman and CEO,

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...

Grayson Hall Grayson Hall (September 18, 1922 – August 7, 1985) was an American television, film, and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant-garde theatrical performances from the 1960s to the 1980s. Hall was nominated for an Academy ...

, television, film and stage actress *

Leroy Kelly Leroy Kelly (born May 20, 1942) is a former American football player. A Pro Football Hall of Fame running back, he played for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1973. Career Kelly had attended Simon Gratz H ...

, NFL player *

Willie Mae James Leake Willie Mae James Leake (March 13, 1932 – August 28, 1997) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as Republican mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania from 1986 to 1991. Leake was the first female and first African-American mayor of Che ...

, Mayor of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

Joan Little Joan Little (pronounced "Jo Ann") (born 1953) is an African-American woman who was charged with the 1974 murder of Clarence Alligood, a white prison guard at Beaufort County Jail in Washington, North Carolina, who attempted to rape Little bef ...

, activist *

Aaron McKie Aaron Fitzgerald McKie (born October 2, 1972) is an American basketball coach and former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently the head coach for his alma mater Temple Un ...

player and coach *

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...

, virtuoso violinist * Alvin Mitchell, American football player * Neef Buck, rapper * Lobo Nocho, émigré jazz singer and painter in Europe * Marvin O'Connor, professional basketball player *

Aaron Owens Aaron Owens (born March 20, 1974), better known by his nickname "AO", is an American streetball player from North Philadelphia. In 2013, Owens participated in the Ball4Real World Tour. He was on the AND1 Mixtape Tour from its creation until 200 ...

, streetball player *

Harvey Pollack Herbert Harvey Pollack (March 9, 1922June 23, 2015) was an American sports statistician, a journalist of sports and entertainment, a publicist, and long term director of statistical information for the Philadelphia 76ers. At the time of his death ...

statistician *

Ivan Robinson Ivan "Mighty" Robinson (born February 27, 1971 in Philadelphia) is a boxer who has compiled a record of 36-12-2 (12 KOs) since becoming a professional in 1992. He challenged once for the IBF lightweight title in 1996. Background Born and raise ...

, professional boxer *

Artie Singer Arthur Singer (February 1, 1919 – May 2, 2008) was an American songwriter, music producer and bandleader. He was the co-writer and producer of the songs "At the Hop" and "Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay" by Danny & the Juniors. Career ...

, songwriter, music producer and bandleader *

Lynard Stewart Lynard Stewart (born May 12, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and current high school basketball coach. Playing career The 6'8" forward/center played at Temple University, where he graduated in 1998, before signing a pro ...

, professional basketball player *

Meldrick Taylor Meldrick Taylor (born October 19, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF junior welterweight title from 1988 to 1990, and the WBA welterweight title ...

, 1984 Olympic gold medalist amateur boxer, Professional boxer *

Rasheed Wallace Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before declaring for the draft in 199 ...

player *

Young Chris Christopher Francis Ries (born March 9, 1983), known professionally as Young Chris, is an American rapper. He is a member of Philadelphia rap duo Young Gunz alongside his childhood friend, rapper Neef Buck, signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. The duo ...

, rapper * Earl Watford, NFL player *

Jerry Yulsman Jerry Yulsman (February 8, 1924 – August 6, 1999) was an American novelist and a photographer best known for his photographs of Jack Kerouac, notably the cover illustration on Joyce Johnson's memoir ''Minor Characters''. Yulsman's first cam ...

, novelist and photographer

References

External links

The school's website
-

Mastery Charter Schools Mastery Schools is a network of 24 charter schools with over 14,000 students in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. It is headquartered at the Mastery Charter Pickett Campus in Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dut ...

* - 2008-2011 * - 1997-2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gratz School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania School District of Philadelphia High schools in Philadelphia Educational institutions established in 1925 Public high schools in Pennsylvania Charter schools in Pennsylvania Late Gothic Revival architecture 1925 establishments in Pennsylvania Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Nicetown-Tioga, Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia