{"id":294544,"date":"2026-09-26T16:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/294544\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T16:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T16:00:08","slug":"a-philly-fifth-grader-wants-to-take-the-train-to-school-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/294544\/","title":{"rendered":"A Philly fifth grader wants to take the train to school alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the weekend, Philly. That pesky early nor\u2019easter is here<\/a>, bringing with it rain, gusting winds, and cooler temps.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s advice column, we help a reader weigh whether to honor their fifth grader\u2019s plea to take the train to school by himself<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plus, we cover New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell\u2019s resignation<\/a>, a last-ditch offer to keep the Academy of Natural Sciences open<\/a>, and we\u2019ve got our report card for this week in Philly news<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u2014 Laura Benshoff (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What you should know today<\/p>\n

This week, a reader asked: My fifth grader wants to take Regional Rail back from his downtown magnet school by himself. He\u2019s done a few weeks with an adult so he knows the route, and I can track him on my phone. But he doesn\u2019t have any buddies to walk back with. Is this crazy, or will it help foster independence?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure many parents in and near the city can relate to this dilemma. To hash out the pros and cons for our dear reader, Inquirer Life & Culture reporter Amy Rosenberg huddled with features columnist Elizabeth Wellington.<\/p>\n

Both described having a good measure of independence when they were around the same age, walking to and from school alone. But, they noted, expectations and norms have changed since their latchkey kid days.<\/p>\n

Plus, not every fifth grader is the same. Some may show lots of maturity, while others need a few more years to be ready for solo travel.<\/p>\n

Read their full conversation here<\/a>. Need advice, or want to share your thoughts? We want to hear it. Email us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is SEPTA finally \u201cgetting there\u201d? <\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s Shackamaxon column, Inquirer opinion writer Daniel Pearson argues that the transit authority has earned some plaudits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crime and fare evasion are down, thanks to dozens of additional transit police officers and a new initiative to install taller fare gates. Ridership is up, especially on bus routes that are part of the New Bus Network. Stations are cleaner. All of this has helped push customer satisfaction to record highs.<\/p>\n

All of this makes Pearson optimistic about SEPTA\u2019s future and its ability to deliver on plans to keep improving, despite its perennial need to nag Harrisburg for more funding. Read on for Pearson\u2019s full take, along with his musings as to whether bipartisanship is dead in the commonwealth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2753Pop quiz<\/p>\n

Delta Airlines announced it is ending daily flights from Philly to what city, mere months after starting them?<\/p>\n

A) Miami<\/p>\n

B) Seattle<\/p>\n

C) Austin<\/p>\n

D) Nashville<\/p>\n

Think you know? Check your answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udde9 Unscramble the anagram<\/p>\n

Hint: A new micro museum in Fishtown.<\/p>\n

EUPHONIUM HEADLAMP LEFTISH <\/p>\n

Email us if you know the answer<\/a>. We\u2019ll select a reader at random to shout out here.<\/p>\n

Cheers to Diane Zaborowski, who correctly guessed Friday\u2019s answer: Five Below. Crocs is suing this Philadelphia-based retailer, alleging it knowingly knocked off the footwear company\u2019s ubiquitous foam clogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inquirer reporter Michelle Baruchman and photographer Aidan T. Gallo were there when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, potential rivals for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, met at a Bella Vista diner to rally Democratic volunteers for the midterm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Somewhere on the internet in Philly<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 LeBron James opened up about his decision to join the 76ers on his podcast Mind the Game<\/a>. Tyrese Maxey made a call<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Shoutout to the \u201cweirdly jazzed\u201d reader who just subscribed to get The Inquirer in print<\/a> on Sundays. Your support is greatly appreciated!<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udebf I knew about the SEPTA socks, but I did not know about the Wawa hair clip \u2014 until now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc4b Thanks for spending some of your Saturday with me. Paola P\u00e9rez will be back tomorrow.<\/p>\n

By submitting your written, visual, and\/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer\u2019s Terms of Use<\/a>, including the grant of rights in Section 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the weekend, Philly. That pesky early nor\u2019easter is here, bringing with it rain, gusting winds, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[121901,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-294544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-advice-child-commute-septa-alone","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}