An Interview at Kensington Health Sciences

Posted by on May 17, 2013

By Kate Boccella-Perras

Kensington Health Sciences Academy is a Philadelphia public high school that has completely transformed its mission and culture over the past six years. One of the school’s police officers, Mr. Ryan Smith remarks on his experience of the school over the years, “today, it’s calm, safe and inviting. At least five to six years ago, that was not the case. Constant fights, disengaged students, no motivation, but now that is in the past. The students want to come here and don’t want to leave. We stay after school till 6pm every evening.”

Kensington High School used to be one large comprehensive high school, but in 2004 the School district began to split it into four smaller high schools, each with different theme and building. KHSA was initially designated as Kensington Culinary High School. Mr. James Williams, who became principal in 2007, quickly came to the conclusion that, “the culinary field didn’t work for our students. It didn’t measure up to being a productive industry that could make our kids a viable part of mainstream society.” He decided to re-evaluate this theme and seek a different industry focus for the school.

The school’s leadership team looked to the Department of Labor’s employment statistics. They wanted to build up a school that would match the demand for jobs, and ultimately create students who are productive and proud members of society. They found that ten of the twenty fastest growing fields are in the health sciences. Mr. Williams knew he had to push for his school to become more competitive in these fields.

After overcoming many financial and bureaucratic obstacles, the school officially recreated itself into a Health Sciences Academy in 2009. As part of this transformation Mr. Williams worked to establish a health related technology program and Dental Assistant Program, which prepares students for entry into post-secondary education or employment in the health and dental care industries. Students can even become certified as dental or medical assistants. The programs could eliminate the need to pursue expensive two-year post-secondary degrees to receive these certifications in health sciences.

Mr. Williams explains this is just the beginning: “in the summer, a professional dental lab with four chairs will be completely finished. We are also in the process of becoming a 501c(3) to create a dental health care clinic in the community.”

The Dean of Students, Mr. Green shares this vision for the future, adding “we will start to add a pharmacy technology program next year, which will make Kensington Health Sciences the first and only high school in the state with this program. After the pharmacy program is established, we will work on implementing an ultra-sound technology program.”

Kensington Health Sciences Academy sets high standards for its students and the staff works tirelessly to give their students a chance to become successful. However, in a school whose student body is 96% economically disadvantaged there are many obstacles. Mr. Williams shares that, “it’s not just the money the school needs to achieve life-changing goals for students, but also combating the lifestyle and situations people bring with them from living with no money.” These challenges create a layer of complexity that requires persistence and innovative solutions.

Mr. Nelson, the school counselor, explains that, “without [the health sciences] industry input and support we can’t be current in the education we seek to provide for our students. We need support to be on target in classroom, but more importantly, to provide students with real world experience.” Mr. Nelson leads the school’s efforts in establishing community partnerships with the medical industry to give his students the competitive edge they need to be successful. However, this is an immense project that he commits to on top of being a high school counselor. To build a successful health science high school in Philadelphia, there is a dire need for a school-based community partnership coordinator to assist in building the necessary partnerships.

The Community Partnership VISTA can help establish connections with local universities, hospitals, and the general healthcare industry to develop the internships, service-learning, curriculum, and school-based community health centers that can change the lives of these students. Mr. Williams states, “This community needs to find a space in mainstream society and it’s through health sciences.” Kensington Health Sciences promises to help find this space for its students.