Change comes in unexpected packages

I’m always a sucker for an “against the odds” story—movies like Shine, The History Boys, and Good Will Hunting get me every time—and I guess it means I’m in the right business, because against the odds stories happen all the time in education. But for some reason, a recent New York Times story about a Hasidic Jewish principal who turned around a violent school in the South Bronx really got me.

New York City has long been a hot-bed for testing innovative social policy and recent efforts to overhaul failing schools have focused squarely on principals as leaders for change. Before Shimon Waronker was placed in chaotic and gang-ridden Junior High School 22, however, the school had gone through seven principals in two years and one had lasted only sixty days.

According to the Times, “Despite warnings from some in the school system that Waronker was a cultural mismatch for a predominantly minority school, he has outlasted his predecessors, and test scores have risen enough to earn J.H.S. 22 an A on its new school report card. The school, once on the city’s list of the 12 most dangerous, has since been removed.”

Waronker’s calm exterior and Orthodox style of dress hide the fact that he was once part of a military tactical intelligence unit—and speaks fluent Spanish. And, a bit like a military leader, his changes to the school have been swift and decisive. He replaced half the school’s teachers in two years and has sought to create deep, collaborative relationships with his new and remaining staff. To quell gang activity, he instituted a neutral dress code policy and focused on strict hallway patrols. To “take back the hallways” from students who have no fear of authority, he enlisted other students to represent and influence their peers by creating a democratically elected student congress.

Waronker’s story made me think about the incredible possibility for change principals hold. In Washington, we’ve long focused on the leadership abilities of teachers, but principals—which often wear multiple hats in the course of day—require a special brand of leadership training and finesse. And following the examples of some world’s great (and unexpected) leaders in recent years, we may need to reframe what we think of as the traditional or textbook principal.

Take the time to watch the New York Times 8 minute video on Waronker’s journey to reform J.H.S. 22, maybe it will it get you too—or at least make you believe that change can come in unexpected packages.