Hamilton Disston Elementary School principal Kari Hill spoke at last week’s Tacony Civic Association meeting, mentioning that there are 881 students in the school, which educates kids in kindergarten through eighth grade. The 93-year-old building, at 6801 Cottage St., was designed for 650 kids.
“We’re packed. We have no room,” the principal said.
Hill has been a principal for a decade, including the last two years at Disston. She wants to provide some stability to a school that has seen a revolving door of administrators in recent years. She decided against having an outdoor Halloween parade this year due to safety concerns.
The principal believes Disston remains an excellent option for parents in a neighborhood that has seen an increase in the number of charter schools.
Hill can be seen in the morning at Gillespie and Knorr streets, trying to speed up students who are late or are patronizing the corner store.
For information, go to http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/d/disston
In other news from the Nov. 12 meeting:
• Jim Fries, project manager for the Delaware River City Corporation, spoke of the work to extend Delaware Avenue. The stretch from Lewis Street to Orthodox Street should be completed by October 2015. A further extension to Buckius Street is in the design phase.
Fries also spoke of ongoing riverfront projects to add trails, plantings, bridges and a 15-acre passive park at Orthodox Street.
The DRCC held a recent 5K run/walk and a showing of the movie Despicable Me 2 at Pennypack on the Delaware.
• Tacony Library, 6742 Torresdale Ave., will host its annual Winterfest celebration on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be holiday food, music, balloon art, face painting, crafts, trolley tours and a Christmas tree lighting. Santa Claus will make an appearance from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Tacony Civic Association will meet again on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. at Holy Innocents St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 7001 Torresdale Ave. (at Tyson Avenue). ••
