Chester Upland School District is making a comeback, starting this school year with only two teacher openings and with all of its teachers certified, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

“That sends a great message and sets the tone for the academic year as students now can come in to see a face that will be permanent for the entire year and not someone there on a temporary basis as they go through their year,” Receiver Nafis Nichols said.

At this time last year, Chester Upland School District was down 25 teachers and the state was investigating teacher certifications.

It looked like the district was going to be taken over by a charter school organization.

Nichols and Superintendent Craig Parkinson have ruled that possibility out and see a good trajectory for CUSD.

In fact, the Chester Upland School District recently purchased Widener Partnership Charter School.

“I’ll say this, if we’re buying charter schools, why the heck would we be talking about charterizing the district? No, we’re not doing that,” Nichols said.

The goal now is to increase enrollment and make the district a viable place for people to send their children to be educated and to transition successfully into adulthood.

Read more at WHYY about Chester Upland School District’s progress.  

Here’s the announcement about Widener Partnership Charter School becoming part of the Chester Upland School District.