# Mantua: After-School Programs Filling Void Left By Closure of University City High School

For 41 years, the 14-acre plot on Filbert Street between 37th and 38th streets was home to [University City High School](https://hiddencityphila.org/2013/10/at-university-city-high-possibility-amidst-pain/), [Charles Drew Elementary School](https://www.westphillylocal.com/2011/11/03/drew-elementary-to-close-other-area-schools-spared-major-changes-under-consolidation-plan/) and [The Walnut Center](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjD59WMwf7LAhWCpx4KHcplB98QFggxMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsworks.org%2Findex.php%2Flocal%2Feducation%2F65330-philly-school-district-set-to-sell-four-of-its-recently-shuttered-buildings&usg=AFQjCNG8RvEkTAmJj5a4pWdH7_zf8GJbjA). Today, those buildings have been erased from existence, leaving behind a vast swath of unfinished terrain littered by rocks, dirt and controversy. University City High School [closed in 2013](https://6abc.com/archive/9018966/) as a result of a motion by the [Philadelphia School Reform Commission](https://6abc.com/archive/9018966/) to shut down nearly two dozen public high schools, while saving four from closure. In June of 2014, [Drexel University](https://drexel.edu/) and [Wexford Science and Technology, LLC](https://wexfordscitech.com/), collaborated on a [$25.15 million purchase](https://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Drexel-plans-1-billion-development-at-ex-high-school-site.html) of University City High School's former grounds from the [School District of Philadelphia](https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2016/04/19/mantua-after-school-programs-filling-void-left-by-closure-of-university-city-high-school/). [Drexel and Wexford's construction plan](https://drexel.edu/now/archive/2014/June/Drexel-Wexford-UCHS-site-close/) for the 14-acre plot includes a new K-8 school building for [Samuel Powel Elementary School](https://powel.philasd.org/), surrounded by residential, retail and recreational space in addition to laboratory and research office space and parking - but no new high school. [![ReifsnyderSpring2016_Enterprise Story_Mantua-2](https://phillyn-media.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/25193028/ReifsnyderSpring2016_Enterprise-Story_Mantua-2-577x385.jpg)](https://phillyn-media.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/25193028/ReifsnyderSpring2016_Enterprise-Story_Mantua-2.jpg) Located less than a mile from the center of the [Mantua section of West Philadelphia](https://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/28/obama-philadelphiapromizezonesmantua.html), University City High School had an integral role in the education of Mantua's youth for more than four decades. Now, the options are slimmer for Mantua residents seeking a nearby public high school, with [West Philadelphia High School](https://wphs.philasd.org/) located 1.6 miles from the center of Mantua and [Overbrook High School](https://www.overbrookhs.com/) approximately four miles away. Despite the absence of a public high school in Mantua, after-school programs such as [Mighty Writers West](https://www.mightywriters.org/mighty-writers-west/), led by 1997 University City High School graduate [Khalia Robinson](https://www.mightywriters.org/timwhitaker-about-us/staff/) (above), and the West Philadelphia Community Center have been stepping up to educate high school students and encourage them to expand their horizons beyond the neighborhood's limits. https://vimeo.com/162030806 *– Video, text and images by Tom Reifsnyder.*