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It was November 1, 2002,

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my first day as a principal,

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but hardly my first day
in the school district of Philadelphia.

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I graduated from
Philadelphia public schools,

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and I went on to teach
special education for 20 years

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in a low-income, low-performing school

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in North Philadelphia,

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where crime is rampant

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and deep poverty is
among the highest in the nation.

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Shortly after I walked into my new school,

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a huge fight broke out among the girls.

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After things were quickly under control,

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I immediately called a meeting

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in the school's auditorium

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to introduce myself
as the school's new principal.

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(Applause)

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I walked in angry,

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a little nervous --

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(Laughter) --

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but I was determined

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to set the tone for my new students.

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I started listing as forcefully as I could

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my expectations for their behavior

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and my expectations
for what they would learn in school.

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When, all of a sudden,

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a girl way in the back of the auditorium,

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she stood up

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and she said, "Miss!

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Miss!"

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When our eyes locked, she said,

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"Why do you keep calling this a school?

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This is not a school."

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In one outburst,

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Ashley had expressed what I felt

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and never quite was able to articulate

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about my own experience
when I attended a low-performing school

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in the same neighborhood,
many, many, many years earlier.

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That school was definitely not a school.

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Fast forwarding a decade later to 2012,

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I was entering my third
low-performing school as principal.

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I was to be Strawberry Mansion's
fourth principal in four years.

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It was labeled "low-performing
and persistently dangerous"

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due to its low test scores

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and high number of weapons,

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drugs, assaults and arrests.

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Shortly as I approached the door
of my new school

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and attempted to enter,

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and found the door locked with chains,

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I could hear Ashley's voice in my ears

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going, "Miss! Miss!

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This is not a school."

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The halls were dim and dark
from poor lighting.

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There were tons of piles
of broken old furniture

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and desks in the classrooms,

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and there were thousands
of unused materials and resources.

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This was not a school.

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As the year progressed,

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I noticed that the classrooms
were nearly empty.

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The students were just scared:

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scared to sit in rows in fear
that something would happen;

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scared because they were often teased
in the cafeteria for eating free food.

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They were scared from all the fighting
and all the bullying.

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This was not a school.

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And then, there were the teachers,

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who were incredibly afraid
for their own safety,

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so they had low expectations
for the students and themselves,

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and they were totally
unaware of their role

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in the destruction
of the school's culture.

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This was the most troubling of all.

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You see, Ashley was right,

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and not just about her school.

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For far too many schools,

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for kids who live in poverty,

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their schools are really
not schools at all.

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But this can change.

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Let me tell you how it's being done
at Strawberry Mansion High School.

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Anybody who's ever worked
with me will tell you

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I am known for my slogans.

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(Laughter)

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So today, I am going to use three

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that have been paramount
in our quest for change.

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My first slogan is:

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if you're going to lead, lead.

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I always believed

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that what happens in a school
and what does not happen in a school

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is up to the principal.

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I am the principal,

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and having that title required me to lead.

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I was not going to stay in my office,

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I was not going to delegate my work,

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and I was not going to be afraid
to address anything

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that was not good for children,

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whether that made me liked or not.

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I am a leader,

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so I know I cannot do anything alone.

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So, I assembled
a top-notch leadership team

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who believed in the possibility
of all the children,

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and together, we tackled the small things,

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like resetting every single
locker combination by hand

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so that every student
could have a secure locker.

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We decorated every
bulletin board in that building

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with bright, colorful,
and positive messages.

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We took the chains off
the front doors of the school.

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We got the lightbulbs replaced,

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and we cleaned
every classroom to its core,

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recycling every, every textbook
that was not needed,

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and discarded thousands
of old materials and furniture.

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We used two dumpsters per day.

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And, of course, of course,

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we tackled the big stuff,

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like rehauling the entire school budget

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so that we can reallocate funds
to have more teachers and support staff.

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We rebuilt the entire
school day schedule from scratch

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to add a variety of start and end times,

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remediation, honors courses,

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extracurricular activities,
and counseling,

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all during the school day.

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All during the school day.

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We created a deployment plan

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that specified where every single
support person and police officer would be

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every minute of the day,

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and we monitored
at every second of the day,

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and, our best invention ever,

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we devised a schoolwide
discipline program

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titled "Non-negotiables."

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It was a behavior system --

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designed to promote
positive behavior at all times.

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The results?

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Strawberry Mansion was removed
from the Persistently Dangerous List

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our first year after being --

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(Applause) --

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after being on the Persistently
Dangerous List for five consecutive years.

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Leaders make the impossible possible.

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That brings me to my second slogan:

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So what? Now what?

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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When we looked at the data,

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and we met with the staff,

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there were many excuses

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for why Strawberry Mansion was
low-performing and persistently dangerous.

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They said that only 68 percent of the kids
come to school on a regular basis,

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100 percent of them live in poverty,

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only one percent
of the parents participate,

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many of the children

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come from incarceration
and single-parent homes,

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39 percent of the students
have special needs,

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and the state data revealed

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that six percent of the students
were proficient in algebra,

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and 10 were proficient in literature.

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After they got through
telling us all the stories

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of how awful the conditions
and the children were,

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I looked at them,

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and I said, "So what. Now what?

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What are we gonna do about it?"

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(Applause)

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Eliminating excuses at every turn
became my primary responsibility.

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We addressed every one of those excuses

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through a mandatory
professional development,

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paving the way for intense focus
on teaching and learning.

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After many observations,

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what we determined was
that teachers knew what to teach

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but they did not know how to teach

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so many children
with so many vast abilities.

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So, we developed a lesson
delivery model for instruction

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that focused on small group instruction,

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making it possible for all the students
to get their individual needs met

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in the classroom.

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The results?

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After one year, state data revealed

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that our scores have grown
by 171 percent in Algebra

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and 107 percent in literature.

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(Applause)

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We have a very long way to go,

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a very long way to go,

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but we now approach every obstacle
with a "So What. Now What?" attitude.

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And that brings me
to my third and final slogan.

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(Laughter)

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If nobody told you they loved you today,

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you remember I do, and I always will.

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My students have problems:

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social, emotional and economic problems

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you could never imagine.

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Some of them are parents themselves,

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and some are completely alone.

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If someone asked me my real secret

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for how I truly keep
Strawberry Mansion moving forward,

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I would have to say
that I love my students

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and I believe in their possibilities

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unconditionally.

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When I look at them,

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I can only see what they can become,

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and that is because I am one of them.

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I grew up poor in North Philadelphia too.

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I know what it feels like
to go to a school that's not a school.

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I know what it feels like to wonder

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if there's ever going to be
any way out of poverty.

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But because of my amazing mother,

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I got the ability to dream

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despite the poverty that surrounded me.

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So --

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(Applause) --

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if I'm going to push my students

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toward their dream
and their purpose in life,

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I've got to get to know who they are.

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So I have to spend time with them,

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so I manage the lunchroom every day.

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(Laughter)

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And while I'm there,

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I talk to them
about deeply personal things,

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and when it's their birthday,

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I sing "Happy Birthday"

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even though I cannot sing at all.

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(Laughter)

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I often ask them,

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"Why do you want me to sing
when I cannot sing at all?"

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(Laughter)

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And they respond by saying,

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"Because we like feeling special."

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We hold monthly town hall meetings

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to listen to their concerns,

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to find out what is on their minds.

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They ask us questions like,
"Why do we have to follow rules?"

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"Why are there so many consequences?"

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"Why can't we just do what we want to do?"

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(Laughter)

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They ask, and I answer
each question honestly,

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and this exchange in listening
helps to clear up any misconceptions.

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Every moment is a teachable moment.

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My reward,

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my reward

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for being non-negotiable
in my rules and consequences

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is their earned respect.

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I insist on it,

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and because of this,
we can accomplish things together.

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They are clear about
my expectations for them,

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and I repeat those expectations
every day over the P.A. system.

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I remind them --

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(Laughter)

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I remind them of those core values

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of focus, tradition, excellence,

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integrity and perseverance,

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and I remind them every day

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how education can truly
change their lives.

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And I end every announcement the same:

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"If nobody told you they loved you today,

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you remember I do,

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and I always will."

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Ashley's words

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of "Miss, Miss,

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this is not a school,"

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is forever etched in my mind.

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If we are truly going
to make real progress

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in addressing poverty,

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then we have to make sure

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that every school
that serves children in poverty

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is a real school,

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a school, a school --

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(Applause) --

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a school that provides them with knowledge

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and mental training
to navigate the world around them.

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I do not know all the answers,

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but what I do know is for those
of us who are privileged

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and have the responsibility of leading
a school that serves children in poverty,

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we must truly lead,

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and when we are faced
with unbelievable challenges,

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we must stop and ask ourselves,
"So what. Now what?

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What are we going to do about it?"

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And as we lead,

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we must never forget

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that every single one of our students

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is just a child,

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often scared by what the world
tells them they should be,

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and no matter what the rest
of the world tells them they should be,

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we should always provide them with hope,

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our undivided attention,

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unwavering belief in their potential,

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consistent expectations,

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and we must tell them often,

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if nobody told them they loved them today,

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remember we do, and we always will.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Thank you, Jesus.