Mayor Nutter and Supt. Arlene Ackerman opened the 2010-11 academic year for 163,000 Philadelphia students Tuesday at Willard in a ceremony that combined the district's traditional bell-ringing with a ribbon-cutting of the gleaming building at 1930 E. Elkhart St.
"What a wonderful way to start this new school year," said Robert L. Archie Jr., chairman of the School Reform Commission who participated in the program with commission member Denise McGregor Armbrister.
Nutter congratulated the Willard students.
"This is what happens when parents, the community, the school district and everyone gets involved," he said. "The result is a beautiful new school."
Hundreds of thousands of area students returned to school Tuesday. The 72,000 enrolled in Roman Catholic schools in the five-county Archdiocese of Philadelphia are scheduled to start classes Wednesday.
After attending the ceremonies and a reception for parents and community members at Willard, Ackerman visited Vaux High School and Dunbar Academy. The two North Philadelphia schools are among six new Promise Academies that will receive extra resources and support as part of Ackerman's academic reform initiative.
Also Tuesday, fathers, grandfathers and other male relatives accompanied children to their first day at city schools in the fourth annual Million Father March sponsored by the House of Umoja Inc. in West Philadelphia.
"It is encouraging to see the community give support," said Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, founder and executive director of the House of Umoja which organized the event in conjunction with a nationwide effort promoting violence-free schools. "It lets the kids know that this is something special."
