Palumbo Updates - Students/Parents

* New/updated info.

Monday, March 23, 2026 - Regular Bell Schedule

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 - Regular Bell Schedule

• Grades Close for Quarter 3
• Virginia State University Choir 1st & 2nd periods
• Home & School Association Meeting - 7:00 PM

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 -Regular Bell Schedule

• Lunchtime Karaoke

Thursday, March 26, 2026 -1 Hour Advisory Bell Schedule

• Musical Premiere - 6:00 PM - Disney's The Little Mermaid

Friday, March 27, 2026 - 1 Hour Advisory Bell Schedule

• SAC Meeting - 8:30 AM
• Musical Matinee -12:00 PM Disney's The Little Mermaid
• Musical - 6:00 PM - Disney's The Little Mermaid

MONDAY, MARCH 30 - FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2026 - SPRING BREAK - SCHOOLS CLOSED

Monday,April 6, 2026 - Regular Bell Schedule

• Last day to add to 2025-26 Calendar

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - Regular Bell Schedule

Wednesday, April 8, 2026 -Regular Bell Schedule

• Poll Worker Training
• Report Cards Distributed

Thursday, April 9, 2026 -12:04 Dismissal Bell Schedule

• Report Card Conferences- In - Person (1:00 - 3:00 PM)

Friday, April 10, 2026 - 12:04 Dismissal Bell Schedule

• K-Pop Showcase
• Report Card Conferences - Virtual (1:00 - 3:00 PM)

On March 12th - 15th, Coach Stamps and Coach Conquest took Jaye Mack, Kiyah Connor, Harrisa Banto, Daijah Lopez, Zeinab Doumbia, and Destinee Marshall (alternate) to compete at the prestigious New Balance Indoor Nationals Track and Field Competition. They competed against the best of the best! The girls 4x2 ended the season as PA#4 and US #48 (that's the fourth fastest time in PA and the 48th fastest time in the country). Jaye Mack finished 3rd at states and ended up as PA#5 and US#35.

Daijah also ran the 60m hurdles and the 200m and Zeinab ran the 200m and the 400m. It's the most events that our track and field athletes have qualified for on a national level. These athletes deserve high praise! If you would like to support our team in traveling to other events like this, please visit:

https://app.schoolfundr.org/fund/palumbotrack2026

In a decisive 5-2 victory against Northeast on Monday, the chess team advanced to the city league finals! They'll be taking on Central on Tuesday! Please send good vibes only!!!

This year Palumbo, at the city competition Palumbo took:

• 1st Place Animation
• 2nd Place Web Design
• 3rd Place Logo Design

The Animation Team (Aryanna and Xeni) will be going to the State Competition in May.

Here is a link to the animation:

The Science Olympiad team placed 8th at Regionals to qualify for the Pennsylvania State Championship for the second year and a row! Some pictures are attached!

Special shoutout to Sophia Chen and Chenglin Ouyang for earning a 5th place medal in the Machines event, Sophia and Sharon Chen for earning a 5th place medal in the Helicopter event, and Sophia, Ya Zhen Qian, and Kya Prunty for earning a 3rd place medal in the Experimental Design event!

As a side note - Freshmen Andrew Korpics and Valentina DeSimone have been volunteering with Merdith's Science Olympiad Team who will be featured on Fox29's Good Day Philadelphia on Monday Morning! Palumbo's team looks forward to getting them next year!

Congratulations to Ms. Tuff, Ms. Kohan-Garvey and Ms. Pray as they were selected to present alongside Ms. Thompson & Ms. Bond at this year's College Board Dream Deferred Conference. This conference focused on increasing equity and access to students-especially minorities-to Advanced Placement and college access. Palumbo was recognized for our growing AP enrollment and performance, and our standout result in AP African-American Studies. Our session was titled “Shifting the Culture: Elevating AP Opportunity and Excellence at Academy at Palumbo”.

The Boys Volleyball team competed in a tournament in Easton PA, finishing second in a pool of 5 teams. They won their first playoff match vs Liberty where they were considered the underdog. They then lost to Emmaus in the semi finals in a very competitive match.

Kingston was also voted to the all tournament team- 2 of the 6 players were products of the Philadelphia Public League!

Attend Our Next General Meeting (Virtual)

Tuesday, March 24, 7–8 p.m.

Join us at our next meeting to hear updates from Principal Thompson and the HSA. All are welcome!

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86089554932?pwd=KT1MP7M4GSKS7iTaoSPhydbWhysXWb.1

Meeting ID: 860 8955 4932

Passcode: 795914

Search for a new HSA Vice-President

Interested in making a big impact on our school community? Email palumbogriffinshsa@gmail.com for more info.

Academy at Palumbo Familias is our community-building initiative for Spanish-speaking families. Please email HSA Member-at-Large Edwin Mayorga to learn more edwin.mayorga@gmail.com

Stay Connected to the HSA

Follow us on Instagram @pgriffinsha and Facebook

Website

Questions, suggestions, or expertise to share? Email palumbogriffinshsa@gmail.com

Upcoming HSA Meetings: March April 21, May 20

Thank you to all who attended our college info session in-person and virtually.

If you were unable to make it or have any additional questions, or would like to follow up with a counselor individually, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Ms. Donnelly/Mr. Shanks (A - G) cmdonnelly@philasd.org and/or tshanks@philasd.org

Ms. Gerbec (H-P) cgerbec@philasd.org

Ms. Pray (Q-Z) qpray@philasd.org

The slides from the presentation are linked below.

In case you missed it, we were visited by Philly's own Boyz II Men on Monday! They are filming a documentary and wanted the building where they met and formed the group to be in the film. Yes, the Palumbo building used to house CAPA when Boyz II Men and The Roots were in high school. Check out the Motown Philly video and you'll see your school!

The ASY/SYOP/Temple Education Scholars programs application is now live. The link is below. For students that are applying for the ASY or Junior Bridge program through CCP, please make sure that they fill out the CCP application first. The link for that is Here. If you have any questions, please reach out to dualenrollment@philasd.org

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSegFIq68D9F9QjcMaR0oCsPo0BUOKxWQPHnRcH_VfcM3hQzOw/viewform?usp=dialog

OnTrack Scholarship Opportunity

The 2026 ONTRACK Plus Scholarship Application is now LIVE on the platform, and we are accepting submissions through March 31, 2026. There's plenty of time for your 12th grade students to qualify for this exciting opportunity by completing their modules and submitting their applications. We're also thrilled to announce an increase to our scholarship awards this year, with top recipients eligible to receive up to $25,000 paid over four years (awards ranging from $1,000 to $25,000).

As an added incentive, every 12th grade student who submits a complete application (meeting all submission guidelines) will receive a $100 GIFTOGRAM Gift Card - a meaningful reward for their hard work!

All of the scholarship criteria is outlined in our PDF guide. Please share it with your students and encourage them to get started today. If you have any questions about the scholarship application, reach out to us at team@ontrackplus.org

We wish all our ONTRACK Plus students much success as they begin the next phase of their academic journey!

Alpha Phi Alpha Scholarship Opportunity!!

https://rhoscholarships.netlify.app/scholarship-requirements

Our Class, Our Future Senior Celebration–Registration open! The Our Class, Our Future celebration is a chance to rally around our graduating seniors who have committed to a postsecondary pathway. This year's event is on Friday, 5/29 from 9:30-12:30 at the Dell Music Center! Registration is now OPEN until April 23rd.

Our Class, Our Future Award Application

The Office of Postsecondary Readiness is excited to announce that the Our Class Our Future (OCOF) award application is now open! Interested students with a GPA of at least 2.5 should complete this form: AWARD APPLICATION – Students will be required to write a short essay sharing their post secondary goals.

The deadline to apply for this award is Friday, March 27, 2026. Award recipients will be recognized at the OCOF event on Friday, May 29, 2026.

Please share with your school community and encourage all eligible students to apply.

Workforce Development and Internship Fair

The Office of Postsecondary Readiness is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the annual Workforce Development and Internship Fair on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 from 3:30 pm-7 pm at Abraham Lincoln High School, 3201 Ryan Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. See flyer attached.

Please encourage your students to register today at bit.ly/sdp-workfair

During the fair, representatives from companies and organizations will be present to offer full-time, part-time, and summer job opportunities, both traditional and non-traditional training programs, certificate programs, work-based learning activities, and industry-specific job training programs. The goal of the fair is to provide exposure opportunities to our high school students that will assist them in meeting their pathway to graduation needs. For questions please contact, Christine Liang, cliang@philasd.org

Opportunity for Dual Enrollment at CCP

We are writing to share that we have scheduled nine (9) Summer 2026 Dual Enrollment/Advance at College Info Sessions now through June 1, 2026. Two of these will occur in person on the main campus and will include application submission support. We are hoping you can share this with current Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. Please use the link below to view our info sessions and register.

https://apply.ccp.edu/portal/dual_enroll

These information sessions focus on traditional dual enrollment via our Advance at College model. We will not be discussing summer ACE nor middle college opportunities.

Note about eligibility:

• Current Sophomores are able to participate via Advance at College beginning in July which aligns with our late summer session

• Current Seniors are able to participate via Advance at College in our early summer session only (courses begin in May.)

RW Sowell Scholarship Fund

The RW Sorrell Scholarship Fund, a 501C3 organization awards four (4) year renewable scholarships at $5,000 per year as long as eligibility requirements are met. Students living in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Bucks counties are eligible to apply.

The Scholarship Fund will begin accepting applications on Sunday, February 15, 2026 through Saturday, March 28, 2026. All documents required for a complete application must be postmarked by 11:59 PM on March 28th to meet the deadline for consideration of a scholarship. Applications may be completed on our web site at http://www.rwsscholarship.org or downloaded and mailed directly to the P.O.Box below:

P.O. Box 26701

Elkins Park, PA 19027

Eligibility requirements include:

• A completed application

• Two references (one from teacher/counselor)

• Official high school transcript (must be sealed)

• GPA of B or better

• Resume

• 500 - 600 word essay summarizing community service/volunteer activities - past, present and future

• Copy of letter of acceptance to college/university if received

• Reside in one of the five counties listed in Southeastern PA

The STEP Team (Remal and Walker) are facilitating a 8 week Grief Group starting Thursday March 19th, 2026 and would truly appreciate you sharing in community meetings. That said, it has been shared in the Google Classrooms for Freshies, Sophomores, and Juniors, so feel free to point them in that direction as well.

We will meet during a time TDB due to who refers themselves.
Although there are many forms grief takes, this will be a group focussing on grief and loss from a death in a student's life.
We will work to identify, explore, and process the difficulties and resilience within the grieving process, while also acknowledging and normalizing some of the experiences after losing someone through death.
Groups offer opportunities to connect and talk about things that can often leave us feeling alone.
***Please ask that students complete this form by Monday 3/7/2026 if Interested.

High school students are invited to enroll in the Penn Rising Scholar Success Academy (PennRSSA) Summer Academy.

About PennRSSA

The Penn Rising Scholar Success Academy (PennRSSA) is a free, in-person college preparatory and career exploration program for high school students across Philadelphia. This includes students from the School District of Philadelphia, public charter schools, and Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools. We welcome students from all backgrounds and accept participants regardless of GPA!

This summer, we are offering a rigorous in-person program that provides high-caliber academic, career, and college preparation content. Students will also participate in a small-group Capstone Project. The program will be delivered in small cohorts led by University of Pennsylvania undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.

Eligibility, When, and Where:

• Eligibility: Must be City of Philadelphia residents
• Program Duration: 6 weeks (June 22–August 4, 2026).
• Intensive 6 week in-person program
• Rising Juniors and Seniors
• Lunch and Transportation included

This year, our summer program application will be hosted in partnership with Career Connected Learning PHL (C2L-PHL).

Before the formal application opens in April/May, we ask students to fill out this interest form to help us learn more about them! Seats in the program are limited, so submitting this form ensures we can notify eligible students ( must be a Philadelphia resident to apply) as soon as the application opens.

*Completing this interest form does not guarantee acceptance in the program. Student MUST also complete the C2L-PHL application once it opens, and we’ll review their application from there.

Submit this interest form no later than 11:59 PM on March 8, 2026. We look forward to having your students join us this summer!

We are writing to share that we have scheduled nine (9) Summer 2026 Dual Enrollment/Advance at College Info Sessions now through June 1, 2026. Two of these will occur in person on the main campus and will include application submission support. We are hoping you can share this with current Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. Please use the link below to view our info sessions and register.

https://apply.ccp.edu/portal/dual_enroll

These information sessions focus on traditional dual enrollment via our Advance at College model. We will not be discussing summer ACE nor middle college opportunities.

Note about eligibility:

• Current Sophomores are able to participate via Advance at College beginning in July which aligns with our late summer session

• Current Seniors are able to participate via Advance at College in our early summer session only (courses begin in May.)

Thank you,

Megan Barbano-Maxwell

Director, K-16 Partnerships

As we wind down the Fall season, and gear up for the Winter season, please see this document for contact information and Google Classroom codes for Winter sports.

If your student is new to Palumbo, and has a 504 Plan please reach out to their counselor to ensure that we have a copy of the plan. This is especially important for students coming from non-school district schools. The 504 plans do not automatically transfer to us from outside of the district.

Counselors:

Last Name A-G - Thomas Shanks - tshanks@philasd.org

Last Name H-P - Chloe Gerbec - cgerbec@philasd.org

Last Name Q-Z - Qiana Pray - qpray@philasd.org

You may use this electronic form to submit an excuse for your child's absence from school within three days of the absence. A doctors note must be provided after three consecutive days of absence. After 9 parental excuses, a doctors note will be required. Be sure to complete each section below to ensure the excuse is accepted. Written notes are also accepted in the main office. All request are subject to administrative approval.