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Exploring The Ruins of Philadelphia’s Public School System: Inside 3 Recently Abandoned Philly Public High Schools with Austin Hodges

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(Photos by Austin Hodges)

Over the past few months, Philly photographer/Instagrammer, Austin Hodges, has been documenting a number of local public schools that have been closed and left abandoned in the city of Philadelphia. This week, he was kind enough to send me the photos from three of his explorations. And , as you can see, they only seem to highlight the desperate state of public education in this city.

At the request of the photographer, I’m not naming any of the schools photographed in this post. However, they are separated into 3 groups, starting with the first school above.

Austin also asked me to mention that none of these photographs would have been possible without the help of fellow Philly photographer/Instagrammer, @dday521, who also boasts an awesome collection of graffiti and urbex photos. If, for some reason you’re not already, I HIGHLY recommend you follow these two guys on Instagram.

I can not say enough how much these photos have moved me. As a Philadelphia public school kid myself (a graduate of Adaire Elementary and Central High School,) I have a lot invested in the health and vitality of our city’s schools. As I’m sure many of you do. And, I suppose it goes without saying, we have a long way to go to get our public schools on the right track.

More photos below…

Abandoned Philly School #1 (Cont.)

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Abandoned Philly School #2

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Abandoned Philly School #3

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Find more explorations into Abandoned Philadelphia HERE!

6 responses to “Exploring The Ruins of Philadelphia’s Public School System: Inside 3 Recently Abandoned Philly Public High Schools with Austin Hodges”

  1. Julia Benjamin

    eerie.

    Reply
  2. Moritz Ricotomo

    which schools?

    Reply
  3. LOLadelphia Responds to ‘Abandoned Philly Public Schools’ Post | Streets Dept

    […] week I posted photos by local photographer/Instagrammer, Austin Hodges. These photos document a few of […]

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  4. parrisjwilliams

    Reblogged this on – Parris J. Williams and commented:
    Looking at abandoned buildings, schools, hotels, asylums… etc makes me think about what the back story was. Viewing pictures such as these also depresses me a little bit because for me it makes me wonder who was there. Why they were there. And the beloved question, will I ever meet this person? Chances are I won’t because many of the abandoned buildings these days are from years before I was even a thought! However, in this case of the Philadelphia school, this was recent! So who knows, maybe one day I will end up meeting an alumni, or maybe even falling in love with one. Who knows.

    My last thought about the abandonment of these facilities is where do all these people go? For most, they’ll transfer schools find another job, go to another mental hospital. But what about the people that invested their time, money and efforts in creating a place of business? All their hard work just gone. As I saw the pictures of this school, it appears to me that it is still in very good condition for the standards of care that it is in. It’s sad that this place that was once filled with laughter, love, mistakes, learning and everyones favourite, the high school mushy-relationship!

    Maybe one day I can flip these once loved and appreciated buildings into something new, where we can make memories all over again. But for now, I must view pictures, read stories and hope that one day I will be able to fulfill my dreams!

    My last thought: it saddens me that this will be the world one day. I’m just glad I won’t be here to see it… Or will I?

    Reply
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  6. John Fortune

    Really cool pictures! Keep it up!
    Sad to see Germantown High School like this.

    Reply

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