This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
by Aaron Moselle for NewsWorks
Officials with Camelot Education will be in Germantown on Wednesday night to discuss the company’s interest in bringing three alternative-education programs to the neighborhood.
The public meeting inside Janes Memorial United Methodist Church will not be the Texas-based company’s first community presentation in Philadelphia.
Reintroducing themselves
Camelot, a for-profit company, has partnered with the Philadelphia School District for nearly a decade and operates both stand-alone programs and smaller ones housed inside and affiliated with existing charter schools.
Excel Academy South in Northeast Philadelphia is the company’s newest stand-alone program in the city. If the District approves Camelot’s plan, the high school would be one of the three programs in Germantown.
Excel Academy North, also in Northeast Philadelphia, and Camelot Academy in North Philadelphia would also move to the four-story building that housed Germantown High School, which closed for good this summer as part of the District’s facilities master plan.
"It’s large enough where we can really operate three programs and do it in a way where they can operate independently," said Todd Bock, Camelot’s president and CEO.
Both Excel programs serve "near dropouts" who need a substantial number of credits to graduate.
Camelot Academy works with middle-school and high-school students who were removed from traditional District schools for disciplinary infractions.