John Bartram High School

John Bartram High School
Established 1939
Type Public secondary
Principal Constance McCalister
Students 2000
Grades 9–12
Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Colors Maroon and Gray
Website

http://www.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/bartram/

Bartram, John, High School
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built: 1937
Architect: Catharine, Irwin T.; McCloskey & Co.
Architectural style: Moderne
Governing body: Local
MPS: Philadelphia Public Schools TR
NRHP Reference#:

86003263

[1]
Added to NRHP: December 4, 1986

John Bartram High School is a public secondary school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the School District of Philadelphia.

Contents

History

On February 5, 1939, John Bartram High School, located at the intersection of 67th Street and Elmwood Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, opened its doors for the first time to 1,700 students. According to a history of the school published on its 50th anniversary, the school was originally planned at 74th Street and Dicks Avenue, but the site was changed to 67th and Elmwood Avenue before construction started. It was built to relieve overcrowding at West Philadelphia High School due to population increases in the southwest part of the city.

The art-deco building was designed for 2,750 students but frequently held 3,200 or more. It was one of the first Philadelphia high schools named for a prominent individual rather than a geographic region of the city.

On December 4, 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The school is home to PA-20032 Unit of the Air Force JROTC.[2]

School and Site Structure

The Building

The school was built in 1939 due to overcrowding in West Philadelphia High School. The school was named after a famous American Botanist, John Bartram. Mr. Cennamo, 11th grade climate coordinator says, "originally the building consisted of four floors, but in the 21st century the 4th floor was blockaded from all students". The building is one city block long and the capacity of the school is about 3000 students. The blueprint of the school shows that there are approximately 103 classrooms and 12 staircases. The school has a boy's and a girl's gymnasium for different sporting events. The auditorium can hold about 1077 people. The Air Force JROTC program was started in September 2005.

English

John Bartram students must take four English classes to graduate. English classes are to help students improve their reading, grammar, writing skills, and vocabulary. Optional English classes include SAT English, AP English, Theater, Public Speaking, and AP English Literature.

Tutoring Program

John Bartram tutoring program was throughout the years by Ms. Beverly Yancy. It helped students to advance in their major subjects by working with the basics. It is only a program available to 9th and 10th graders, held one hour per week from 3-4 pm.

The head secretary, Ms. Phyllis Walton, was interviewed with Ms. Beverly Yancy, who’s in charge of the program. They both agreed that most of the students who took part in the program while in the 9th and 10th grade, and are now 11th and 12th graders, had boosted their grades tremendously.

Dance Class

The dance class at John Bartram High School is good for students that like to dance or would like to learn dance steps it’s a fun way to get graded. The students perform at their school an middle schools also. Many students love to join this class every year. • Mondays- Yoga • Tuesday- Cha Cha • Wednesday- Salsa • Thursday- Soul Line Dance • Weekly Review/Free Style

Chess Team

The chess team at Bartram is very skilled even though the program is still developing. It’s a 10 player team, with 2 coaches (Mr. Ryan and Corey). These coaches would like to improve the team by getting more students to join and having more practice games. The purpose of the chess team is to help the players learn to strategize. Even though the Bartram chess team is just starting out, their skills are growing fast and they’ll be competing soon.

Athletics

Basketball

The Bartram Boys' Basketball Team has a long history of success. They have won five Philadelphia Public League Championships since the school started playing in the early 1940s [3] In 2008-09 the team went 19-10 including 10-4 in League Play and made it to the second round of the PIAA 4A State Playoffs by defeating Pocono Mountain East.[4] In the Second Round Bartram lost to eventual state champion Pennwood. The team was coached by James Brown, Terence Durham, Matt Impink and Hasan Tyler.

Football

"Bartram Braves is a tough and competitive team to defeat", said the John Bartram High School Football Team O-Line coach Mark. John Bartram football team has a Great Tradition and has been going on for a long time. Bartram has a good reputation of building tough players with good intelligent mind sets. Bartram has sent several people to the NFL for example (Eric Williams who now plays for the Dallas Cowboys) and numerous students to college every year which is the main goal. Bernie Custis, who graduated in 1947 and attended Syracuse University, was the first African American to play quarterback for a major college football team. He was also the first African American quarterback in the Canadian Football League, playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Bartram's football team is a talented group of young men that will work at their best ability to be great contenders each year. According to Coach Chapman one of the football coaches at Bartram says that, "The team is good for the students and helps keep them out of trouble and they must concentrate on their grades." For the year of 08-09 John Bartram football team were Division Champs with a record of 10-2. This year Bartram will move up to the toughest division in the public league. Last but not least is a quote from Coach Warren, "The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend." Watch out for the John Bartram High School Football Team! Click here for more information on the Bartram Football team we'll win this year Bartram new student

Track

John Bartram High School has good sport tradition, especially in track. According to Coach Jim Chapman, Bartram 's track team always competed well with others; even with Overbrook High School's track team which is one of the best historically. The fastest on the track team in 2009 is Marques Modie. John Bartram has a silver medal in 4x4 in the Penn Relays. In 2009 Dave Burous came in 4th place at the Public League Championships.

Famous alumni

School Uniform

School District Uniform Policy mandates that students at Bartram wear black bottoms (pants or skirts) and black or white three-button tops with collars.[5]

Feeder patterns

Feeder middle schools include George Pepper Middle School and Tilden Middle School.[6] K-8 schools feeding into Bartram include William C. Longstreth School and Penrose School.[6]

References

External links