Learning the Hard Lessons

The motto of Parks Middle School, in a low-income, African-American neighborhood in Atlanta, is “Closing the Achievement Gap,” and it has just about done that. But success hasn’t come without a struggle. Hear the school’s principal and staff discuss what they’ve learned in leading a chaotic school from a seventh year of “needs improvement” to a calm, purposeful place where just about all students meet or exceed state standards. The principal will describe his journey from something of a “drill sergeant” who began by instituting “top down” reforms to a leader of leaders who drives improvement “from below.”

Christopher Waller, principal;
Sandra Ward, instructional specialist; and
Felecia Phillips, instructional lead teacher, Parks Middle School, Atlanta