Back to School

The start of another school year is underway here in Philadelphia! Get ready for school with these helpful resources for students, teachers, parents, and caregivers to help make the school year easier. Learn new study skills, organization strategies, and test taking tips. Get homework help, take a college prep course, or just learn something new. Explore our curated booklists and browse our collection of school-related web links for to help start the new school year off right!

Links

Bullying Resources
The National School Safety Center's website contains resources for adults about bullying and other school safety issues.
Bullying: Peer Abuse in School
This in depth article by the U.S. Department of Education provides parents and adults with information and strategies to combat bullying
Center for Safe Schools: Response to Sandy Hook Tragedy
Resources for educators, teachers and administrators to ensure that schools remain a safe haven for children, including a 10-Point School Safety Checklist.
CSFP Program Description
Children's Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia. This fund provides partial-tuition assistance for private school to low-income families.
education.com
A site for school-aged children and their parents with access to education-oriented resources of all kinds. Includes a parents' forum page and information about schools and learning readiness. Topics and content arranged by grade level. Issues like bullying and academic pressure addressed also. Some advertising.
GALAEI
The organization provides services for high school students addressing issues of self-esteem, sexuality and risk reduction.
Get your child organized for school
Tips to help your child manage assignments, clutter and time.
Get your kids reading! Fall picks from the Free Library
Teresa Arnold and Monica Carnesi, Children’s Material Selectors; and Rachel Fryd, Young Adult Materials Selector at the Philadelphia Free Library, give their children's book recommendations to Philly.com
Great Philly Schools
Database of K-12 Schools in Philadelphia.
Helping Children with Trauma: Share My Lesson (lesson plans)
Lesson plans for educators on responding to traumatic events as well as preventive measure for ensuring safe schools.
HomeworkSpot.com
Divided into elementary, middle, and high school. Has a reference section and a section for parents and teachers.
Kaplan
Offers preparation for standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college, and graduate school as well as English language and professional licensing exams. Also offers online college degree programs, private tutoring and admissions guidance. Its eScore site focuses helping parents help their children to learn. BrassRing provides career information and guidance.
Learning Games for Kids
This site features games for preschool and elementary students that build skills in math, reading, social studies, science, art and music.
Literacy Enrichment After-School Program (LEAP)
Become a Teen Leadership Assistant with the Free Library of Philadelphia’s LEAP program.
McGruff.org
McGruff.org is geared towards reading age children from 6-10. It contains a "webisode" on how to stop a bully, a "Get Home Safe" maze and school safety tips.
National Youth Violence Prevention Center
A site for teens featuring articles related to youth violence, including school violence, hate crime, dating violence, and teen firearm violence. Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Federal Partners Working on Youth Violence.
Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS)
PAIS is an incorporated not-for-profit association of independent schools in the state. Online Directory of Schools
Philly schools pass sweeping policy protecting transgender students
"Without debate or comments from the public, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission adopted a policy on Thursday, June 16 that immediately allows transgender students to, among other things, be referred to by their pronoun of choice; use their bathroom of choice; and go out for the athletic team of their gender choice, either boys' or girls'."
Philly.com- High School Sports
Get high school sports news and statistics from the Philadelphia region.
School Shootings: Helping Teens Cope, a Guide for Parents: New York University Child Study Center
How to provide the support your teen needs to manage their feelings about school violence.
School Shootings: The Conversation You Need to Have with Your Kids: Parents Magazine
Proactive advice on how to reassure your children after a school shooting.
StoryPlace
The Children's Digital Library, with a Pre-School Library, an Elementary Library, and Book Hive. Online activities, booklists, coloring sheets, all in one great site!
Student Center
A "web community for students, specifically college students, high school students, and teenagers." Includes links to student chat,advice, resources, poetry, music, news and sports.
Students at Museums in Philly
The STAMP pass is open to any Philadelphia high school student, and is valid for one year of FREE admission to a selection of the city’s top museums and attractions.
Teaching #BlackLivesMatter
Developed by San Francisco's Unified School District Library, this site’s focus is “to offer teachers resources to teach the BLM movement and the context in which that movement exists.”
Teaching Kids Consent from Ages 1-21
Although this article was first published in 2013, the advice included is still great. This article has tips broken down by age group from preschool to teen years.
Teenspace at Internet Public Library
Links to dozens of resources to help with school assignments.
The Chem Collective: For Students
Virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, and concepts are all part of this website! For high school students.
The Consensual Project
The Consensual Project partners with schools and universities to bring students a fresh understanding of consent. The innovative curriculum, workshops, and website empower young people to incorporate consent into their daily lives.
The Paul Green School of Rock Music
Website for the School of Rock Music with information on school locations, programs, enrollment, concerts, and more.
The Physics Classroom Multimedia Physics Studio
A collection of GIF animations and accompanying explanations of major physics concepts, and more. For Middle School and up.
The School District of Philadelphia
This offical homepage offers information on the following topics: teacher/staff Resources, student resources, community resources, Cluster-School-District information, employment opportunities and charter schools.
Time for Kids
News for elementary school-age children, up-dated regularly. Available in two reading levels and also in Spanish.
Tomorrowsdoctors
A Guide for High School Students. Wonderful informative page for students interested in this field. published by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
U.S. News and World Report School Rankings
The U.S. News and World Report yearly issue on colleges and universities has long been one of the key sources for college rankings. The web version provides the list of schools for free, for $14.95 you can get the U.S. News statistics on the colleges.

High School Drama by FLPTeens

You think your school is bad?! Read these books filled with teenage drama, gossip, and growing pains.

Don't you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey cover

View the full list

High School Films (12 items)

Get ready for a new school term by watching films about or that take place in high school.

Back to School - Students (7 items)

Helpful resources for students to make the school year easier with study skills, homework help, organization strategies, and test taking tips.

99 ways to get your kids to do their homework :(and not hate it) cover

Back to School - Parents and Caregivers (7 items)

Helpful books to make sure your children have a successful year.

Back to School - Films (16 items)

School doesn't have to always be a drag... watch a couple of these funny school films.

Back to School - Children (53 items)

A list curated by Children’s Librarians to help your young ones get ready and accustomed to school.

Born on a blue day : inside the extraordinary mind of an autistic savant : a memoir cover

Voices on the Spectrum (19 items)

Inspiring journeys into extraordinary minds

Electronic Resources

Academic OneFile *
Find peer-reviewed, full-text articles from journals in the areas of the physical and social sciences, technology, medicine, engineering, the arts, literature, and more. More than 18,000 peer-reviewed journals and more than 9,200 in full text.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Academic Search Main Edition *
Provides full-text and peer-reviewed journals essential for undergraduate & graduate studies. Subjects include biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, psychology, & religion from over 1,800 full-text and more than 1,200 full-text peer-reviewed journals.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Access World News
Local, regional, national, and international sources for news are available through this resource.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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AP Images (formerly AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive) *
Current photos & a selection of pictures/images from the 50 million print & negative library of photographs at the Associated Press. Search for a picture/image of your favorite celebrity.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Gale Virtual Reference Library
Fully searchable database of over 260 reference titles developed by Gale and other publishers.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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GREENR - Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources *
GREENR is an interdisciplinary resource for environment and sustainability studies and provides news, video, primary source documents, and statistics on energy systems, healthcare, food, climate change, population, economic development, and more.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Homework Help Online
Get live, online tutoring in English and Spanish, every day from 10 a.m. to midnight for K-12, college students, adult learners, and job seekers. Upload an essay or resume and get feedback. Access a library of study, test prep and career resources.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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InfoTrac Student Edition *
Content for high school students from magazines, journals, newspapers, reference books, and rich media (images, audio, video) covering a range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political science, sports, and environmental studies.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Kids InfoBits *
Students in K-5th grade will find kid-friendly content covering topics such as animals, arts, geography, health, literature, people, social studies, technology, and more! Includes more than 16,600 images and over 600 high-quality educational videos.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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LearningExpress Library 3.0 - Recursos para Hispanohablantes
Recurso para el desarrollo académico y profesional ofrece el desarrollo de habilidades en matemáticas, ciencias y lectura/escritura para los alumnos de la escuela de edad y adultos, así como pruebas de la práctica para el nuevo GED, SAT, NCLEX-RN, y mas.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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LearningExpress Library Career Center (formerly Job & Career Help Center)
This LearningExpressLibrary module offers sections on business writing, the job search, skills for success and skills for successful interviews.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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LearningExpressLibrary 3.0
Practice tests and test preparation study materials for academic and professional tests, including the SAT and GRE. Watch our video tutorial.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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NewsBank Hot Topics
Trending news and hot topics for your next assignment! Hot topics covers Current Events, Business & Economics, Civics, Government, & Politics, Social Issues, Science, Technology & Health, Sports, Arts & Literature, and People in the News.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Information and articles on a variety of controversial social issues. Get to know this valuable resource with a video tutorial.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Research in Context *
Research In Context provides support to middle grade students for papers and projects on government, history, geography, literature, sciences, and social issues. Includes full-text magazine & news articles, multimedia, biographies, and primary sources.
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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Student Resources In Context
Primary documents, biographies, topical essays, background information, critical analyses, full-text coverage of 800 magazines, photographs and illustrations, audio and video clips
Available To: All Free Library locations and online with your library card.

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