General Contact information

• The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) provides information, resources, and technical assistance on educational matters to schools and residents. You may contact the PDE by mail, phone, fax, or e-mail:

Pennsylvania Department of Education
Dr. Gerald L. Zahorchak, Secretary of Education
333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Phone: (717) 787-5820
Fax: (717) 787-7222
TTY: (717) 783-8445
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.pde.state.pa.us/

Residency Dispute

• The PDE has developed a complaint process to investigate whether a Pennsylvania school district has illegally determined that a student is not a resident of the school district and is not otherwise entitled to attend school in the district.  These disputes most often involve:
  
  • Students who are living with an adult outside the school district in which their parents live;
  • Students in foster homes; and
  • Students in residential “children’s institutions,” such as group homes, maternity homes, and mental health facilities.
• For more information about these students’ rights, I recomend that you consult The Education Law Centers Fact Sheet, The Right to Attend School in Pennsylvania.  You may also want to consult the PDE’s Basic Education Circular (BEC) on Enrollment of Students which provides guidance regarding public school enrollment procedures for resident and non-resident children.  You may also access these materials by calling the Education Law Center HelpLine at 215-238-6970.
• For a guide to the Residency Dispute Complaint process, click here.

General Resources

• Peterson’s K-12 Planner: You may use this site to learn about summer programs, private schools, prepare for entrance exams, and find financial aid oppertunities.

• High School Career Centers: Most high schools have career centers that offer an extensive collection of college guidebooks and catalogues, SAT preparation literature, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, and planning programs.

• A Better Chance Program: A Better Chance offers support to minority students as they pursue educations at independent and public schools around the country. The program annually recruits, refers and supports about 500 Scholars from grades 6-12 at more than 300 Member Schools in 27 states. More information is available at http://www.abetterchance.org/.  

• Steppingstone Scholars, Inc: Steppingstone Scholars, Inc. is a Philadelphia based program that  prepare scholars to get into, and succeed, at local college preparatory schools. More information can be found here.

Financial Aid for Private K-12 Education

• There are more than three hundred privately licensed higher education schools in operation across Pennsylvania. You can find more information about the private schools in this area and what they offer at the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s website at: www.pdehighered.state.pa.us.  There is no direct federal assistance for K-12 private education. However, where need is displayed, it is possible to obtain financial aid and/or scholarships to subsidize tuition. It is best to first contact the school; often times they have money set aside for aid. The following organizations are also good places to look for support.

• SchoolGrants (http://www.schoolgrants.org): A site for PreK-12 educators to find information on grant opportunities and application resources. It does not provide information on financial aid for individual students.

• Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc310.html): for elementary and secondary school expenses as well as higher education.

• Children's Scholarship Fund (http://www.scholarshipfund.org/index.asp): provides partial tuition assistance to low-income students in Kindergarten-8^th grade.

• CEO America, Lehigh Valley (http://www.ceoamerica.net/) Provides a 1-year scholarship for financially disadvantaged children in Pennsylvania to attend any public, parochial or non-public school of their choice.

• Pennsylvania’s Children’s Tuition Fund (http://www.acsi.org/Students/ChildrensTuitionFund/tabid/728/Default.aspx) Offers scholarships for private Christian schools in Pennsylvania through the Association of Christian Schools International

• Philadelphia BAEO Scholarship Program (http://philadelphia.baeo.org/)

Local Intermediate Units

• Intermediate Units are organized in Pennsylvania as part of the governance structure of public education in the Commonwealth. They are situated between the state education agency and the local school districts, designed primarily to provide services to local school districts that can be operated more effectively and efficiently on a regional basis.  If your child requires special services, such as speech or physical therapy, being enrolled in a private institution does not disqualify them from receiving these services. The Intermediate Unit in your school district will evaluate your child to determine his or her need and allocate therapy accordingly. Contact information for the Intermediate Units in this area is below.

Delaware County Intermediate Unit
Education Service Center
200 Yale Avenue
Morton, PA 19070
610-938-9000
Fax 610-938-9887
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www.dciu.org

Chester County Intermediate Unit
Educational Service Center
455 Boot Road
Downingtown PA 19335
484-237-5000
Fax: 484-237-5154
www.cciu.org

Montgomery County Intermediate Unit
1605 West Main Street
Norristown, Pa 19403
610-539-8550
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www.mciu.org

• Head Start is a comprehensive child development program, funded by the federal government which serves children from ages 3 to 5 years. The goal of this child-focused program is to increase the social competence of young children in low income families. Head Start provides a range of services which includes early childhood education, health, nutrition, family services, transition and parent involvement; services to special needs children, mental health, English as a second language.

Delaware County Local Head Start Coordinator
Renee A. Bell, Program Director
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610-938-9000, ext. 2205
Chester County Head Start program Supervisor
(610) 383-6800
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Montgomery County Maternity Care Coalition/
Norristown Early Head Start
Executive Director Steven Lewis
1 West Main Street, Suite 250
Norristown, PA 19401
Phone: (610) 239-6662
Fax: (610) 239-6663
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The National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

• (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.

Philadelphia Field Office (613)
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
U.S. Customs House, Room 600 
200 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2986
(phone) 215-597-4333
(fax) 215-597-1540

• PaTTAN is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, working in partnership with families and local education agencies to support programs and services to improve student learning and achievement.  PaTTAN has three regional offices, with locations in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, and King of Prussia. These offices develop training courses, offer technical assistance, and provide resources to build the skills of intermediate unit and school personnel, in order to improve student achievement. Each regional office serves specific intermediate units.

• When planning for your child’s future, you may also find it helpful to consider prepaid tuition and college savings ("Section 529") plans. The College Savings Plans   Network (http://www.collegesavings.org) is a national non-profit association dedicated to making college more accessible and affordable for families. Their web site provides detailed information about 529 college savings plans and allows you to compare plans from around the country, in order to help you find the plan that best meets your long-term needs and financial goals.

Legal Resources

• Legal Aid of Southeastern PA (877-429-5994) their mission is to provide quality legal representation to low-income people, to empower them to solve problems without legal representation through legal education and increased access to the courts, and to change community practices and systems that cause or aggravate poverty. Visit http://www.lasp.org/locations for a list of locations.

• Delaware County Bar Association: http://www.delcobar.org/ 610.566.6625

• Chester County Bar Association: http://www.chescobar.org/ 610.692.1889

• Montgomery County Bar Association: http://www.montgomerybar.org/ 610-279-9660

• Education Law Center (ELC) (www.elc-pa.org 215.238.6970) - Since 1975, the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania (ELC) has worked to make good public education a reality for Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable children. ELC’s offices are located in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  Their work falls into three main categories:

• Making sure that all children have access to school and school programs. We work to eliminate practices that make it difficult or impossible for a child to enroll in school, or that deny children access to school programs on the basis of disability, English language learner status, homelessness, or other factors.
• Providing families (and those who work with them) reliable, understandable information about education laws and policies. Through publications, training materials, and training events, we try to de-mystify the rules and help people understand how to deal with common problems.
• Improving schools. We work with local and statewide groups on getting more funding for our neediest schools; making sure that teachers are prepared to meet the needs of diverse learners; promoting programs of positive behavior support in schools; and more.