Cojoined with Strawberry Mansion High School, this elementary school is slated for closure this summer.
There are bars on all four stories of the Elementary school- but grating over the windows of the high school?
The playground is pretty stark and looks like an empty distillery or factory lot. At least there is one functional basketball hoop.
A tree grows through the chainlink fence.
A rusty padlock on the outer gate.
We were still hungry and could not find a place to get food. The school has an autobody repair shop and used car dealership next to it and there is what I assumed was a liquor store (Kitchen 89) advertising ‘cold beer to go’ but nothing that looked like a fresh fruit or sandwich shop.
On the edge of fairmount park, this school has a lot of athletic and sustainability-education potential. Not to mention the synergies of having a cojoined high school to share resources and overhead costs with.
The Death of Philadelphia's Public Schools 
Why close Leslie P. Hill and not Strawberry Mansion. The schools are conjoined. So, only one part will be opened. Seems like it’ll be high heating costs and a lot of wasted space. I went to both of these schools when they were built. Hill for Elementary and Manion for Junior high. They were excellent schools back then. What is the school district doing with money at this point in time?
Hi Sand. I’m a reporter from WHYY looking into the schools from the 2014 closing. I am mainly looking into why some remain vacant and what is going to happen with them. I want to speak with real community members who remember the schools and what they meant to the neighborhood. If you’re interested in speaking with me, I can give you my work email.