-
It was November 1, 2002,
-
my first day as a principal,
-
but hardly my first day
in the school district of Philadelphia.
-
I graduated from
Philadelphia public schools,
-
and I went on to teach
special education for 20 years
-
in a low-income, low-performing school
-
in North Philadelphia,
-
where crime is rampant
-
and deep poverty is
among the highest in the nation.
-
Shortly after I walked into my new school,
-
a huge fight broke out among the girls.
-
After things were quickly under control,
-
I immediately called a meeting
-
in the school's auditorium
-
to introduce myself
as the school's new principal.
-
(Applause)
-
I walked in angry,
-
a little nervous --
-
(Laughter) --
-
but I was determined
-
to set the tone for my new students.
-
I started listing as forcefully as I could
-
my expectations for their behavior
-
and my expectations
for what they would learn in school.
-
When, all of a sudden,
-
a girl way in the back of the auditorium,
-
she stood up
-
and she said, "Miss!
-
Miss!"
-
When our eyes locked, she said,
-
"Why do you keep calling this a school?
-
This is not a school."
-
In one outburst,
-
Ashley had expressed what I felt
-
and never quite was able to articulate
-
about my own experience
when I attended a low-performing school
-
in the same neighborhood,
many, many, many years earlier.
-
That school was definitely not a school.
-
Fast forwarding a decade later to 2012,
-
I was entering my third
low-performing school as principal.
-
I was to be Strawberry Mansion's
fourth principal in four years.
-
It was labeled "low-performing
and persistently dangerous"
-
due to its low test scores
-
and high number of weapons,
-
drugs, assaults and arrests.
-
Shortly as I approached the door
of my new school
-
and attempted to enter,
-
and found the door locked with chains,
-
I could hear Ashley's voice in my ears
-
going, "Miss! Miss!
-
This is not a school."
-
The halls were dim and dark
from poor lighting.
-
There were tons of piles
of broken old furniture
-
and desks in the classrooms,
-
and there were thousands
of unused materials and resources.
-
This was not a school.
-
As the year progressed,
-
I noticed that the classrooms
were nearly empty.
-
The students were just scared:
-
scared to sit in rows in fear
that something would happen;
-
scared because they were often teased
in the cafeteria for eating free food.
-
They were scared from all the fighting
and all the bullying.
-
This was not a school.
-
And then, there were the teachers,
-
who were incredibly afraid
for their own safety,
-
so they had low expectations
for the students and themselves,
-
and they were totally
unaware of their role
-
in the destruction
of the school's culture.
-
This was the most troubling of all.
-
You see, Ashley was right,
-
and not just about her school.
-
For far too many schools,
-
for kids who live in poverty,
-
their schools are really
not schools at all.
-
But this can change.
-
Let me tell you how it's being done
at Strawberry Mansion High School.
-
Anybody who's ever worked
with me will tell you
-
I am known for my slogans.
-
(Laughter)
-
So today, I am going to use three
-
that have been paramount
in our quest for change.
-
My first slogan is:
-
if you're going to lead, lead.
-
I always believed
-
that what happens in a school
and what does not happen in a school
-
is up to the principal.
-
I am the principal,
-
and having that title required me to lead.
-
I was not going to stay in my office,
-
I was not going to delegate my work,
-
and I was not going to be afraid
to address anything
-
that was not good for children,
-
whether that made me liked or not.
-
I am a leader,
-
so I know I cannot do anything alone.
-
So, I assembled
a top-notch leadership team
-
who believed in the possibility
of all the children,
-
and together, we tackled the small things,
-
like re-setting every single
locker combination by hand
-
so that every student
could have a secure locker.
-
We decorated every
bulletin board in that building
-
with bright, colorful,
and positive messages.
-
We took the chains off
the front doors of the school.
-
We got the light bulbs replaced,
-
and we cleaned
every classroom to its core,
-
recycling every, every textbook
that was not needed,
-
and discarded thousands
of old materials and furniture.
-
We used two dumpsters per day.
-
And, of course, of course,
-
we tackled the big stuff,
-
like re-hauling the entire school budget
-
so that we can re-allocate funds
to have more teachers and support staff.
-
We rebuilt the entire
school day schedule from scratch
-
to add a variety of start and end times,
-
remediation, honors courses,
-
extracurricular activities,
and counseling,
-
all during the school day.
-
All during the school day.
-
We created a deployment plan
-
that specified where every single
support person and police officer would be
-
every minute of the day,
-
and we monitored
at every second of the day,
-
and, our best invention ever,
-
we devised a school-wide
discipline program
-
titled "Non-Negotiables."
-
It was a behavior system --
-
designed to promote
positive behavior at all times.
-
The results?
-
Strawberry Mansion was removed
from the Persistently Dangerous List
-
our first year after being --
-
(Applause)
-
after being on the Persistently
Dangerous List for five consecutive years.
-
Leaders make the impossible possible.
-
That brings me to my second slogan:
-
So what? Now what?
-
(Laughter)
-
(Applause)
-
When we looked at the data,
-
and we met with the staff,
-
there were many excuses
-
for why Strawberry Mansion was
low-performing and persistently dangerous.
-
They said that only 68 percent of the kids
come to school on a regular basis,
-
100 percent of them live in poverty,
-
only one percent
of the parents participate,
-
many of the children
-
come from incarceration
and single-family homes,
-
39 percent of the students
have special needs,
-
and the state data revealed
-
that six percent of the students
were proficient in algebra,
-
and 10 were proficient in literature.
-
After they got through
telling us all the stories
-
of how awful the conditions
and the children were,
-
I looked at them,
-
and I said, "So what? Now what?
-
What are we gonna do about it?"
-
(Applause)
-
Eliminating excuses at every turn
became my primary responsibility.
-
We addressed every one of those excuses
during mandatory professional development,
-
paving the way for intense focus
on teaching and learning.
-
After many observations,
-
what we determined was
that teachers knew what to teach
-
but they did not know how to teach
-
so many children
with so many vast abilities.
-
So, we developed a lesson
delivery model for instruction
-
that focused on small group instruction,
-
making it possible for all the students
to get their individual needs met
-
in the classroom.
-
The results?
-
After one year, our data revealed
-
that our scores have grown
by 171 percent in Algebra
-
and 107 percent in literature.
-
(Applause)
-
We have a very long way to go,
-
a very long way to go,
-
but we now approach every obstacle
with a "So What? Now What?" attitude.
-
And that brings me
to my third and final slogan:
-
(Laughter)
-
If nobody told you they loved you today,
-
you remember I do, and I always will.
-
My students have problems:
-
social, emotional, and economic problems
-
you could never imagine.
-
Some of them are parents themselves,
-
and some are completely alone.
-
If someone asked me my real secret
-
for how I truly keep
Strawberry Mansion moving forward,
-
I would have to say
that I love my students
-
and I believe in their possibilities
-
unconditionally.
-
When I look at them,
-
I can only see what they can become,
-
and that is because I am one of them.
-
I grew up poor in North Philadelphia too.
-
I know what it feels like
to go to a school that's not a school.
-
I know what it feels like to wonder
-
if there's ever going to be
any way out of poverty.
-
But because of my amazing mother,
-
I got the ability to dream
-
despite the poverty that surrounded me.
-
So --
-
(Applause)
-
if I'm going to push my students
-
toward their dream
and their purpose in life,
-
I've got to get to know who they are.
-
So I have to spend time with them,
-
so I manage the lunchroom every day.
-
(Laughter)
-
And while I'm there,
-
I talk to them
about deeply personal things,
-
and when it's their birthday,
-
I sing "Happy Birthday"
-
even though I cannot sing at all.
-
(Laughter)
-
I often ask them,
-
"Why do you want me to sing
when I cannot sing at all?"
-
(Laughter)
-
And they respond by saying,
-
"Because we like feeling special."
-
We hold monthly town hall meetings
-
to listen to their concerns,
-
to find out what is on their minds.
-
They ask us questions like,
"Why do we have to follow rules?"
-
"Why are there so many consequences?"
-
"Why can't we just do what we want to do?"
-
(Laughter)
-
They ask, and I answer
each question honestly,
-
and this exchange in listening
helps to clear up any misconceptions.
-
Every moment is a teachable moment.
-
My reward,
-
my reward
-
for being non-negotiable
in my rules and consequences
-
is their earned respect.
-
I insist on it,
-
and because of this,
we can accomplish things together.
-
They are clear about
my expectations for them,
-
and I repeat those expectations
every day over the PA system.
-
I remind them --
-
(Laughter)
-
I remind them of those core values
-
of focus, tradition, excellence,
-
integrity, and perseverance,
-
and I remind them every day
-
how education can truly
change their lives.
-
And I end every announcement the same:
-
"If nobody told you they loved you today,
-
you remember I do,
-
and I always will."
-
Ashley's words
-
of "Miss, Miss,
-
this is not a school"
-
is forever etched in my mind.
-
If we are truly going
to make real progress
-
in addressing poverty,
-
then we have to make sure
-
that every school
that serves children in poverty
-
is a real school,
-
a school, a school --
-
(Applause) --
-
a school that provides them with knowledge
-
and mental training
to navigate the world around them.
-
I do not know all the answers,
-
but what I do know is for those
of us who are privileged
-
and have the responsibility of leading
a school that serves children in poverty,
-
we must truly lead,
-
and when we are faced
with unbelievable challenges,
-
we must stop and ask ourselves,
"So what? Now what?
-
What are we going to do about it?"
-
And as we lead,
-
we must never forget
-
that every single one of our students
-
is just a child,
-
often scared by what the world
tells them they should be,
-
and no matter what the rest
of the world tells them they should be,
-
we should always provide them with hope,
-
our undivided attention,
-
unwavering belief in their potential,
-
consistent expectations,
-
and we must tell them often,
-
if nobody told them they loved them today,
-
remember we do, and we always will.
-
Thank you.
-
(Applause)
-
Thank you, Jesus.