If you have a child who attends the Philadelphia School or you simply live in the neighborhood, you’ve definitely noticed the construction activity going on at the corner of 25th and Lombard Sts. throughout the summer. The school is re-imagining its entrance and its interaction with the street, and the change will be a welcome one.

Entrance now

The corner

Currently, students entering the school come through a small, unremarkable doorway in the middle of the 2500 block of Lombard St. The new entrance will be right on the corner, with landscaping, pervious pavers, a handicapped accessible ramp, and a welcoming canopy with a new sign. The fencing is also being replaced with a combination of brick walls and metal fence, which will have a much sleeker look.

Rendering. Reality is just a couple of weeks away

As you can see, they’re moving right along and should be finishing up in the next couple of weeks. Local builders Wolfe Scott & Associates seem to have things well under control.

The new entryway is the most immediate project for The Philadelphia School, but a bigger one is on the horizon. They are currently in the early stages of a new addition to their campus at 2501 South St. that will, when complete, cover half of a city block. As we mentioned many months ago, Wolfe Scott will be handling this project as well.

Together, these projects might be telling us that young families are on the rise in this part of town. Great news, huh? They also might also be telling us that more and more families are sending their kids to private elementary schools instead of free public schools. We find that surprising, because with a public school district like ours, rumbling along like a well oiled machine, we just can’t imagine why anyone would make that choice.