New Philadelphia school year brings big changes

It's the first day of school for Philadelphia's 116,000 district students.

Why it matters: New school year, new rules. Students, parents and staff will see big changes as the district adopts policies — and abandons others — in an attempt to boost learning and make schools more equitable.

The big picture: Back to school comes at a flashpoint for many across the country, involving something students seemingly can't live without — their cellphones .

• Cities, states and school districts are passing sweeping cellphone bans in schools, aiming to get kids to pay attention during class and socialize with their peers IRL.
• While Pennsylvania hasn't passed a ban, this year's budget dedicates new funding for pouches to lock phones away — helping cover the cost should districts or schools decide to go cell-free.

Zoom in: Banning student cellphone use in Philly schools is "not a district priority," superintendent Tony Watlington , who's embarking on his third year at the helm, tells Axios.

• Such policies are left up to individual school leaders.
• Watlington says he's not aware of any schools banning student cellphones this year.

While Watlington is sticking with the status quo on phone use, the superintendent outlined what's new this year.

📚 Reading curriculum

District schools will roll out a unified English language curriculum — an approach called the " science of reading " — today across grades 3-12 in an effort to improve low literacy scores .

• The approach, which cities and states across the U.S. are using , relies on evidence-based methods and teaches reading by more explicitly stressing ideas like phonics, vocabulary, and fluency.
• Previously, the reading curriculum varied among schools and relied on an approach called "balanced literacy."

👋 Bye-bye, "leveling"

The district has discontinued the practice of " leveling " — or moving teachers to other schools months into the year based on enrollment.

• Used for decades, educators have criticized the controversial policy for disrupting student learning and hurting teacher morale.

🕒 Extended school day for some

20 district schools (and five charters) will launch an extended school day pilot program today aimed at helping working families and expanding educational programs for students.

• Cooperating schools will have programming for students before and after school hours, starting at 7:30am and ending at 6pm.

🏗️ New digs

The $62 million Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School has opened in the Overbrook neighborhood.

• The brand-new building serves students in pre-K through grade 8 and features a maker space, innovation lab and library.

🎰 School selection

The district tweaked its school selection process , which opens at 4pm on Sept. 13. Students will rank up to five schools by preference in their applications.

• The change comes three years after the district revamped the process , which has yet to lead to more diversity among the district's top high schools. There were also hundreds of unfilled seats in some schools last year.

💬 Focus on communication

The district will track every phone call, letter and email from community members in an effort to improve the central office's historically lackluster response times.

• A survey will also allow those inquiring to rate the district's customer service.