Message from the Principal
It is an honor to serve this wonderful community as Principal of Arthur Elementary. I have a long history with Arthur Elementary and lived in the community for many years. My eldest child attended Arthur and I actually decided to enter the education profession as a result of volunteering at Arthur. I experienced the passion of teachers and the students’ joy of learning. That experience began my journey as a life-long learner in education. As Arthur’s principal, I want to share my passion and love of learning with parents, teachers, staff, and students. I believe in the limitless potential of every child and I want to build the capacity of all adults to tap into that potential. This is Arthur and we stride with pride.
-Victor Hunter, Principal
Points of Pride
- Most improved K-8 school in Philadelphia for the 2015-2016 academic year
- 1 of 8 schools chosen to participate in the school district’s first cohort Redesign Initiative. Through this, Arthur has created a formal partnership with Science Leadership Academy and incorporated their best practices to provide Arthur students in grades K-8 a similar inquiry-driven, project-based learning model.
- Updated technology in every classroom, including iPads for grades K-2, laptop carts in grades 3-4, and 1:1 Chromebooks for all students in grades 5-8.
- Foreign language instruction for grades K-4.
- An enrichment program that provides extended opportunities to students that need to be challenged beyond the classroom.
- Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI), an early literacy program which brings resources and special training to our K-3 instructors to ensure that our early childhood literacy program best serves all of our students.
- Partnerships with several arts organizations including Walnut Street Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet X, Dancing Classrooms (ballroom dance), Astral Artists, Bilingual Butterflies, Musicopia and many, many more.
- After school activities such as drama, Civil Engineering, Lego Robotics, Playworks, and dance instruction.
- A partnership with Marshall Dennehey law firm, which provides financial support and access to professional mentors.
- Music, Physical Education, Art, and Engineering instruction.
- A private makerspace, the Wildcat Workshop, available for hands-on projects.
- A brand new schoolyard that serves as a place where teachers can implement inquiry-driven, hands-on learning, where students can learn about green infrastructure and practices, and an active community space where students and community members can gather and engage in structured and unstructured play.
- Support provided by the community including Friends of Chester Arthur (FoCA), Home and School Association (HSA), Shiloh Baptist Church and South of South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA), among many more.
Our Mission
Our school is a welcoming community of learners that engages academically talented students.