In this article, the author presents his thoughts, as a teacher activist, on the school closing process in Philadelphia, particularly the effect of the closing process on Beeber Middle School and its response to the closing. The District's Facilities Master Plan originally called for closing 37 schools, Some schools were removed from the closing…

As instructional coach at Spring Grove Area High School in Pennsylvania, the author realized that too many of the school's freshmen were becoming what one might call lost in transition; they never made it to their sophomore year. He joined with concerned teachers and counselors from the school and its feeder middle schools to create a freshman…