Philadelphia Tribune: School of the Week

Frankford High School Revises Blueprint with teaching model

Chanel Hill Tribune Staff Writer--Nov. 18, 2024

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Three years ago, Frankford High School Principal Michael Calderone reached out to alumni to see if they would be interested in filling several positions on the school’s staff.

The call to action was in response to the nationwide teacher shortage that has been affecting schools across the country.

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“Every year, we graduate almost 200 kids that need jobs,” Calderone said. “One year, we had a bunch of positions to fill including special education assistant positions and climate positions.

“The post on social media was to see if any of our alumni would be interested in these positions,” he said.

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Many of Frankford’s alumni would respond to the post, but the results didn’t turn out the way the school expected. Calderone realized that the “Pioneer Pipeline” needed to be revamped in order to be successful.

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“Unfortunately, some of the students we hired, we had to part ways with them,” Calderone said. “A lot of our kids didn’t have the workplace skills or the soft skills that they needed to be successful.

“From that, came this idea of raising the bar for everyone at Frankford,” he said. “Not just our students, but for everybody in the building. We want to make sure we are really positioning our students to be in better places when they leave.

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“We also redid our mission and vision that is now aligned with our four core values, which are accountability, community, growth and respect,” he added.

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PROGRESS

- The school has already seen progress in the revised school model. In September, Frankford had a gain of 9.8% in students attending 90% or more days from last September.

Frankford drop-out numbers have also reduced by almost 50% compared to the numbers last September.

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- Students who want to participate in extracurricular activities at the school must meet a 90% attendance threshold and be passing all of their classes.

“We have champion groups, which break down into small groups of students with one adult,” Calderone said. “The students stay with that adult for the duration of their time at Frankford.

“They also become their liaison between home and school,” he said. “Every two weeks, we run a special schedule where for 45 minutes students go through and review their absences and attendance.

-They set academic attendance, behavioral goals. They monitor their progress at a minimum of once a month,” he added. “The champion group leader contacts the parent, informing them of their progress in any areas of need, so that everybody kind of has just that one person that they’re comfortable with.”

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Frankford currently occupies two school buildings. Tenth through 12th grade students take classes in the school’s main building at 5000 Oxford Ave.

The ninth graders currently take classes at the Roberto Clemente School. Overall, Frankford has nearly 925 students.

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PLETHORA OF PROGRAMMING & ACTIVITIES

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- The school offers a plethora of programming and activities including athletics, an award-winning culinary arts program, hospitality and tourism program, JROTC, music and art.

“In athletics, we’ve won lots of championships over the years,” Calderone said. “We have a large art department. In music, we have a choir, drumline, band, orchestra and a modern band. We do a musical every year and have multiple concerts.

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- “We have an E-Sports gaming program where students can not only design games, but also learn the science and business behind it,” he said. “Our hospitality program is geared toward tourism and hotel advertising service whereas culinary is focused on food prep and service.

-“We have multiple clubs,” he added. “We have so much to offer our kids. I’m really proud of how many of our students take advantage of everything the school has to offer.”

Frankford also has an aviation program where students can fly an airplane or drone and earn their initial pilot certificates in these areas. The high school is the only school in the city that offers an aviation program.

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“Students can not only earn their pilot license, but they can also earn a drone operator license,” Calderone said. “We just got a substantial donation from the William Penn Foundation.

“We’re looking to expand more into aviation maintenance,” he said. “As part of that, next year we are considering building a small aircraft at the school.”

Calderone said he wants students to leave Frankford to be fully prepared for the next phase of their life.

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“When they leave, I want them to have choices in what they do next,” Calderone said. “I want them to work at a place where they have upward mobility in something that they’re passionate about whether it’s college, a trade school or a career.

“I also want them to know that Frankford will always be their home,” he said. “We will always be there for them.”

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