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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

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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

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for 20 years in a low-income,
low-performing school

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in north Philadelphia,

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where crime is rampant and deep poverty

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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

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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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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, Ashley had expressed

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what I felt

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and never quite was able to articulate

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about my own experience

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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

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at Strawberry Mansion High School.

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Anybody who's ever worked with me

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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

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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 a possibility
of all the children,

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and together, we tackled the small things,

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like re-setting 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 re-hauling the entire school budget

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so that we can re-allocate 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 school-wide
discipline program

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titled "Non-Negotiables."

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It was a behavior system designed

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to promote positive behavior at all times.

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The results?

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Strawberry Mansion was removed

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from the Persistently
Dangerous List our first year

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after being -- (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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(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 come from
incarceration and single-family 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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during mandatory professional development,

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paving the way for intense focus

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on teaching and learning.

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After many observations,

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what we determined was that

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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, our 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

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with a "So What? Now What?" attitude.

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And that brings me to my third

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and final slogan:

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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

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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

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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 -- (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, I talk to them

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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.
(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?" (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?"
"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

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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, and because of this,

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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

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over the PA system.

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I remind them -- (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 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

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to make real progress
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

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is for those 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.