Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Annual Notification
Please see the announcement below with regard to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law protecting student privacy and access to educational records by third-parties. Action is required by December 13, 2024.
The School District of Philadelphia maintains a variety of student records, the confidentiality of which is maintained in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations and Board of Education policy (in Board Policy #216).
District personnel, as well as parties acting for the District may access a student’s records provided a legitimate educational interest exists. Parents/caregivers, including any natural or adoptive parent, legal guardian, or individual acting as parent in the absence of a parent/caregiver (i.e., a surrogate), have the right to examine a student’s records and to be provided with copies of any records maintained in a timely manner, upon their request, unless the District has been provided with evidence that there is a court order or other legally-binding document governing such matters as divorce, separation, or custody that specifically revokes these rights. The right of access only covers the right to information in the student’s records that are about that student; it does not include or extend to any information in the student’s record that are or may be about any other student.
The Pennypack House School requires, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), written permission from a student’s parent/caregiver to release any information from the student’s record with two exceptions: 1) a student’s records may be disclosed, without consent, to schools of intended enrollment or to any other entity or under any of the conditions specified by law in 34 CFR § 99.31 or 2) appropriately designated “directory information” may be disclosed, without consent, unless you have advised the school to the contrary in accordance with School District administrative procedures.
Parents/caregivers who wish to opt their student(s) out of directory information releases must complete an Opt-Out Form for each of their student(s). This form must be returned to the school of current enrollment by December 13, 2024.
Additional information, including the required form may be found by clicking here.
A Message from the Principal
Welcome and thank you for visiting Pennypack House School on the World Wide Web!
Our team, which consists of a Principal, an Assistant Principal, a School Climate Manager, an Assistant Program Coordinator, a Student Reentry & Transition Liaison, and various general education teachers, special education teachers, pupil personnel services professionals, and paraeducators, is laser-focused on ensuring that each student served by our school experiences personal success. Implementation of the School District of Philadelphia’s standards-aligned curricula, complemented by tiered instructional and behavioral interventions and supports allows us to individually and collectively support our students as they cultivate their academic tenacity and social-emotional resiliency while preparing for career or college and community readiness. We are confident that our efforts, which includes collaboration with students’ families, makes a difference in our students becoming productive workers, responsible family members, and engaged citizens.
As you navigate through our website, you will find general information about our vision, mission, and goals, as well as other important public-facing, school and district level information. We encourage you to visit our website regularly as school events and other things that may be of interest to you will be shared here. Our school website is a work in progress and as we strive to keep stakeholders from all of our school’s constituent groups abreast of the happenings and other key aspects of Pennypack House, you can expect to see the site continuously expanding.
Thank you for taking the time to explore Pennypack House School where we are empowering through education!
Yasir Roundtree-Palmer, M.Ed., MSR
Principal, Pennypack House School
yroundtree@philasd.org