Harris Steinberg

is director of Penn Praxis at the University of Pennsylvania

Chicago is a city of immense civic pride. Walking its streets recently, I marveled at its cleanliness, its can-do urban vitality.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's commitment to sound environmental design and stewardship of public space runs deep. The results can be seen in the neighborhoods that surround the immaculate central business district and lakefront.

Philadelphia School District CEO Paul Vallas comes to us by way of Chicago, bringing his Midwestern energy to the woes of the Philadelphia School District. As CEO of the Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001, Vallas did much to reverse their slide into dysfunction. In Philadelphia, he is pushing through an impressive agenda for our schools based on lessons learned in Chicago.

Vallas' vision for Philadelphia combines system-wide curriculum standardization with a sweeping plan to build new schools, renovate many existing ones and create many small high schools.

What does this mean for our city and neighborhoods?

On a recent trip to Chicago, I toured four schools built during Vallas' tenure, schools which might offer a glimpse of what lies in store for us.

Stretching along a canal near the affluent northern suburbs, Northside College Prep High School, is the flagship school of the system. Art spills into the corridors of the three-story brick building. Computer-generated music swells in the computer lab and a science teacher is trying (with some setbacks) to plant a prairie on the school's remediated brownfield site. With an impressive gym, fitness center and pool, this is the kind of school that, in Philadelphia, citizens have to pay for their kids to attend.

On the edge of a rapidly gentrifying part of town, Walter Payton College Prep High School is a 663-student school that has quickly become one of the city's most selective. Built on an urban corner, Payton shares facilities such as a pool and game-day parking with adjoining institutions. A four-story atrium connects the classroom wing with specialty spaces such as the gym, auditorium and a distance-learning center.

The National Teachers Academy is a 740-student neighborhood school for infants through eighth grade. With an active infant/toddler program, a five-days-a-week health clinic run by the University of Illinois at Chicago and a public pool operated by the Chicago Park District, the school is a refuge for both the students and the community.

On the South Side of Chicago, amid both active and decaying industrial buildings, lies the Neal F. Simeon Career Academy - a 1,400-student neighborhood high school. Its auto body, welding, carpentry, cosmetology and other career-training facilities are complemented by a college prep program.

My tour ranged geographically, socially and economically across Chicago - from affluent areas to those in great need. Evident throughout is an admirable standard of care, cleanliness and upbeat atmosphere.

Yet, a qualm: The schools I visited were built on a mid-20th century model. They had standard classrooms lining corridors and restrained outreach to adjacent communities. They were more suburban than urban, often surrounded by parking lots and disconnected from public transportation. Made primarily of utilitarian, buff-colored brick with concrete block interior walls, they were designed in much the same way we build prisons today.

So, how should we begin to think about our new schools in Philadelphia?

Can we create safe and inviting 21st century urban schools - schools with flexible spaces for a variety of today's learning styles? Can we share resources - libraries, gyms, video-conferencing centers, pools and theaters - with surrounding communities and Philadelphia's world-class institutions? Can we locate schools along public transportation routes to encourage walking and minimize dependence on cars? Can we creatively re-use our abundance of historic school buildings? What civic image should our schools project and what role should the community play in the creation of these new schools?

How are we integrating the district's ambitious capital program with Mayor's Street's equally ambitious Neighborhood Transformation Initiative?

Paul Vallas' school-building accomplishments in Chicago are impressive. Let's try to top them in Philadelphia with a smart combination of innovative planning, excellent design and civic pride.