Thomas Fitzsimons Junior High School, later The Young Men's Leadership School at Thomas E. FitzSimons High School, was a public secondary school that, in its final years, was a secondary school for boys. It was located at 2601 West Cumberland Street in

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, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and was a 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 ...

. The school was named after

Thomas FitzSimons Thomas Fitzsimons (October 1741August 26, 1811) was an Irish-born American Founding Father, merchant, banker, and politician. A resident of Philadelphia, Fitzsimons represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress, was a delegate to Consti ...

, who was a signer of the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

History

The school building was designed by 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 ...

and built in 1926. ''Note:'' This includes It 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 as the Thomas Fitzsimons Junior High School. In September 2005, the Philadelphia School District converted FitzSimons Middle School, a coeducational middle school managed by Victory Schools Inc. since 2002, into an all-male middle and high school.Woodall, Martha.
All-Boys' High School Off to a Rocky Start
" ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. Monday February 27, 2006. During that year, the district established The Young Women’s Leadership School at E. Washington Rhodes High School for females. The males zoned to the former FitzSimons and Rhodes zones were assigned to FitzSimons, while the females in the zones were assigned to Rhodes. After the redesign, FitzSimons reported increases in assaults targeting students and teachers. Margaret Harrington, the chief operating officer of Victory, described FitzSimons as having a "transition problem." Martha Woodall of the ''

'' stated in a 2006 article that the boys assigned to FitzSimons had tension with the boys assigned to Rhodes and that tensions increased when the schools combined. Richard H. Jenkins Sr., the principal of FitzSimons, said in that ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' article that he began establishing order with the students as the 2005-2006 school year progressed. Victory Schools was relieved of responsibility for the school; for the 2009-2010 school year, the school returned to the authority of Philadelphia Public Schools. At the end of the 2010-2011 school year, the Philadelphia School District relieved Principal Darryl C. Overton of his duties as the school transitioned from The Young Men's Leadership School at Thomas FitzSimons High School to Thomas FitSimons High School-Promise Academy. In August 2011, budgetary issues and political unrest within the Philadelphia School District negatively impacted the school's direction, and Thomas FitzSimons High School did not open as a Promise Academy. However, that school year, Thomas Fitzsimons High School operated as a comprehensive neighborhood high school, adopting some of the reform measures associated with the Promise Academy model. The new school, led by Principal Jafar Baraka, focused on re-shaping academic programing, highlighting gender-based education, systems building to address school safety and climate, and instructional rigor and parental partnerships. In the spring of 2012, Thomas FitzSimons High School earned AYP or " Adequate Yearly Progress" in two educational categories under the Safe Harbor designation for the first time since the adoption and implementation of the NCLB legislation of 2000. During the summer of 2012,

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 ...

Du Bois Collegiate Academy, a charter high school that is part of the national

network of

charter schools 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 autono ...

, was housed in the Fitzsimons Building. In 2013, FitzSimons High School doors officially closed

The students who were at Rhodes were reassigned to

Strawberry Mansion High School Strawberry Mansion High School is a public high school in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia. It was previously named Strawberry Mansion Junior / Senior High School, and Strawberry M ...

.Graham, Kristen A.
Philadelphia superintendent identifies schools he intends to close
" ''

''. December 15, 2012. Retrieved on 30 November 2015.

Feeder schools

Feeder elementary schools included Thomas M. Peirce Elementary School, Anna B. Pratt School, John G. Whittier School, and Richard R. Wright School.A Directory of High Schools for 2009 Admissions
." ''

''. Accessed 9 November 2008. Ethel Allen School, feeds into FitzSimons.

References

External links

FitzSimons Official Athletic Site

FitSimons Attendance BoundaryArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:FitzSimons School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia High schools in Philadelphia Public middle schools in Pennsylvania School District of Philadelphia Boys' schools in the United States Public high schools in Pennsylvania Charter schools in Pennsylvania 1926 establishments in Pennsylvania Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia

History

Feeder schools

See also

References

External links