Update on Student Union School Chapters for 2023-24 School Year

We at the Philadelphia Student Union are extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to learn, grow, and organize with students in the places they spend so much of their time; schools. So it is with great consideration that we’ve decided to halt in-school Student Union chapters for the foreseeable future. 

We’ve spent a considerable portion of this year thinking through the efficiency and impact of our current organizing model and how we can best service the young people in our city. While our current model has many benefits, we understand that it best serves conditions that no longer exist. We plan to use the next school year to re-evaluate our mission, goals, and strategy for building a youth movement that is rooted in equity and liberation, while responding to the current conditions of a world altered by the ongoing pandemic.

Although we will not be operating inside of schools to conduct our organizing work, there is still opportunity for students, teachers, and administrators at former chapter schools to be involved with our work. For students, we will continue to have citywide meetings that all young people are welcome to attend. To teachers and administrators, we hope to keep our lines of communication open to ensure you all are aware of what work we’re engaged in and can share this information with students. We’re also interested in hearing student, teacher, and administrator perspectives on the conditions and happenings inside of schools. 

We’re very excited for this opportunity to refocus our organizing work and create a stronger foundation to build on top of, as well as maintain our community with you all.