School History
The Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School has a rich history spanning over a century, marked by its dedication to education and a significant transformation from a historic building to a modern learning facility.
The Original School and Its Namesake
The original school building, located in the Overbrook neighborhood of Philadelphia, was constructed between 1923 and 1924. It was designed in the Colonial Revival style by Irwin T. Catharine, a prolific architect for the School District of Philadelphia. This historic structure was later added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, recognized for its architectural significance.
The school was named in honor of Lewis C. Cassidy, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer and politician. Cassidy served as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General from 1883 to 1887 and was also a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education, where he championed the cause of education.
A New Chapter
As decades passed, the original building faced significant challenges, including advanced deterioration and unsafe conditions. In a testament to student advocacy, a letter from a Cassidy student to state senators in 2017 brought widespread attention to the need for a new school. This marked the beginning of a new chapter for the community.
The historic building was demolished in September 2021 to make way for a state-of-the-art facility. The new $62 million school was designed by EwingCole and built by Perryman Shoemaker. It was officially dedicated in August 2024. The new Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School is a modern learning environment with a capacity for almost 600 pre-K-8 students, equipped with sustainable features and spaces designed to foster both academic excellence and community engagement. This new facility honors the school’s legacy while providing a safe and inspiring space for future generations of students.
From a Storied Past to a Vision for the Future
The history of Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School is a powerful testament to the very values that define our mission today. Our journey, from a century-old historic building to a state-of-the-art facility, is a story of resilience, innovation, and community advocacy.
Our namesake, Lewis C. Cassidy, was a champion of education who understood the importance of service to the community. We honor this legacy by dedicating ourselves to our mission of providing a rigorous and joyful K-8 education that empowers every student.
The letter from a Cassidy student in 2017—which spurred the creation of our new, modern campus—embodies the core of our Profile of a Graduate. It showcased a critical thinker who was accountable for their community and took the initiative to shape their desired future. It is this spirit of student-led action and excellence that our vision seeks to cultivate in every classroom, every day.
The new building itself, designed with sustainable features and spaces for community engagement, is a physical reflection of our mission to foster an inclusive environment and our goal to build a consistent and supportive community. Our history, therefore, is not just a collection of dates and events; it is the living proof of our foundation, reminding us that we are building upon a legacy of advocacy and a commitment to our students’ well-being and success.
Our Mission
Our Mission defines our Fundamental Purpose. It answers the fundamental question, “Why do we exist?” This clarity is crucial as it clarifies our priorities and sharpens our focus for everyone involved. It explains what we do and how we work together to turn our vision into reality.
Cassidy Academics Plus is dedicated to accelerating Philadelphia by providing a rigorous and joyful K-8 education that empowers every student to achieve academic excellence, develop strong character, and cultivate essential life skills. Through a collaborative partnership with families and community, we foster a safe, inclusive, and enriching environment, integrating innovative STEAM initiatives to ensure students are future-ready. We prepare our students for diverse post-secondary pathways, including enrollment in higher education, enlistment in service, employment in skilled trades and professions, and the pursuit of entrepreneurship. We believe that by uniting under our ROAR principles —Respectful, On Task, Accountable, and Responsible —we prepare our students to become compassionate global citizens who will shape their desired lives.
Our Vision
Our Vision outlines the Compelling Future we aspire to create. It addresses the question, “What must our school become to accomplish our purpose?” This forward-looking statement gives us direction and inspires our future growth. It describes the ideal future we are building for our students and community.
At Cassidy Academics Plus, we envision a vibrant learning kingdom where every student, recognized as royalty, is empowered to discover their unique brilliance, ignite their curiosity, and lead with confidence. We strive to cultivate a utopian environment where every individual is safe, celebrated, and thrives, prepared to joyfully embrace a future without limits and make a positive impact on the world.
Our Core Values: We ROAR with Professionalism!
Our commitment to ROAR with Professionalism is the driving force behind everything we do. It is our shared framework for accelerating student growth and building a great school. Each letter of ROAR is a promise to our community and a guide for our behavior.
- R is for RESPECTFUL: Reaching out with kindness, recognizing everyone’s value, responding thoughtfully.
- As adults, we reach out with kindness to everyone, recognizing that every individual—student, family, and colleague—is royalty with unique value. We respond thoughtfully to feedback and challenges.
- O is for ON TASK: Organized and ready to learn, open to new ideas, on time, every time.
- As adults, we are organized and ready to learn, focusing our time and effort with an intentional, data-driven approach to accelerate student achievement. We are on time, every time, and open to innovative ideas that push us forward.
- A is for ACCOUNTABLE: Accepting responsibility for actions, always striving for your best, asking for help when needed, achieving excellence through data.
- As adults, we accept responsibility for our actions and our students’ growth. We use data to track progress, constantly reflecting on our practices to ensure we are always striving for our best. We achieve excellence by holding ourselves and each other to high standards.
- R is for RESPONSIBLE: Reliable and trustworthy, respecting our school and property, readiness to make good choices.
- As adults, we are reliable and trustworthy, demonstrating a deep sense of ownership for our school’s mission. We are responsible stewards of our students’ potential and their learning environment, always ready to make the best choices for our community.
Profile of a Graduate
The Profile of a Graduate describes the ideal outcomes for students leaving the school district (Download a copy of the Profile of a Graduate). Our mission statement is more than just a promise; it is the blueprint for our student’s future. Everything we do at Cassidy Academics Plus is intentionally designed to build the specific qualities outlined in our Profile of a Graduate.
The rigorous and joyful K-8 education, combined with our innovative STEAM initiatives, is what shapes a Critical Thinker and a Creative & Innovative Practitioner. Our focus on strong character, essential life skills, and collaborative partnerships is what empowers students to become a Healthy Human, a Skillful & Knowledgeable Professional, and a Culturally Competent Citizen. By uniting under our ROAR principles, we ensure that every graduate is not only future-ready but also a compassionate global citizen prepared to shape their desired life.
- A Healthy Human
- Find joy and satisfaction in learning
- Positively motivated
- Driven and resilient
- Self- confident
- Self- sufficient
- Resourceful
- A Critical Thinker
- Analyze and evaluate information critically
- Propose solutions based upon data
- Quickly and easily adapt knowledge and skills to new environments
- Demonstrate perseverance
- Effectively solve problems
- Creative & an Innovative Practitioner
- Take risks to accomplish a task
- Create original work that demonstrates high quality and reflective approaches
- Provide solutions to problems
- Reflect and rise above obstacles
- Skillful & a Knowledgeable Professional
- Communicate personal values
- Write with precision, clarity, and coherence
- Listen effectively
- Deliver information effectively using a variety of modalities
- Public speaking
- A Culturally Competent Citizen
- Contributing member of society
- Understanding their own and others’ cultural heritage
- Behave with integrity and take responsibility for their behavior, actions and choices
- Have compassion and empathy for others
Here is a breakdown of what those characteristics look like at each stage of a student’s K-8 journey.
Grades K-2: Building a Foundation
In the early grades, the focus is on developing foundational skills and habits that will grow over time.
- A Healthy Human: A K-2 student is positively motivated when they show excitement for learning activities and ask to try new things. They are self-confident when they can express their needs and feelings.
- A Critical Thinker: A K-2 student is a critical thinker when they ask questions like “why?” or “how?” They can sort objects into categories, follow multi-step directions, and try a new strategy when they can’t solve a puzzle.
- Creative & an Innovative Practitioner: A K-2 student demonstrates creativity by drawing and writing stories from their imagination. They show innovation by building new things with blocks and trying again
when a tower falls over. - Skillful & a Knowledgeable Professional: A K-2 student shows these skills by speaking in full sentences, using kind words to share their thoughts, and listening quietly while a classmate is speaking.
- A Culturally Competent Citizen: A K-2 student begins to show this by sharing toys and materials with friends. They behave with integrity by saying “please” and “thank you” and showing kindness to all classmates.
Grades 3-5: Growing Independence
In these grades, students build on their foundation, taking on more independence and responsibility for their own learning and actions.
- A Healthy Human: A 3-5 student is resilient when they can bounce back from a disappointing test grade or an argument with a friend. They are self-sufficient when they manage their homework and belongings without constant reminders.
- A Critical Thinker: A 3-5 student is a critical thinker when they use evidence from a book to support a claim or compare and contrast different ways to solve a problem. They are perseverant when they stick with a challenging task until it is complete.
- Creative & an Innovative Practitioner: A 3-5 student demonstrates creativity by writing a unique story or designing a poster to present their research. They are innovative when they use feedback from a teacher to revise and improve their work.
- Skillful & a Knowledgeable Professional: A 3-5 student demonstrates these skills by writing a clear paragraph, making eye contact when speaking, and participating respectfully in a group discussion.
- A Culturally Competent Citizen: A 3-5 student shows cultural competence by learning about different family traditions and holidays. They behave with integrity by owning up to a mistake and understanding that others may have different experiences.
Grades 6-8: Preparing for the Future
Middle school students are preparing for high school and are expected to think more abstractly, take on more advanced tasks, and show a greater level of personal responsibility.
- A Healthy Human: A 6-8 student is self-sufficient when they can manage their own time and workload for multiple classes. They are resilient when they can learn from a mistake and apply that lesson to their next project.
- A Critical Thinker: A 6-8 student is a critical thinker when they can evaluate different sources for a research paper and form their own opinions based on the data. They can break a large, complex problem into smaller, manageable steps.
- Creative & an Innovative Practitioner: A 6-8 student demonstrates this by creating a high-quality presentation with a unique point of view. They are innovative when they develop an original solution to a community problem or learn from a project failure to improve future attempts.
- Skillful & a Knowledgeable Professional: A 6-8 student shows these skills by writing a well-structured, multi-paragraph essay. They can deliver a public speech with confidence and collaborate effectively with their peers on a team project.
- A Culturally Competent Citizen: A 6-8 student demonstrates this by participating in community service and listening respectfully to different perspectives during class discussions. They take responsibility for their actions and choices and show empathy for their peers.