Integrity Icon 2020

Meet Shaquita A. Smith

As the social studies curriculum specialist for the School District of Philadelphia, Smith helps open worlds, and doors, for more than 200,000 students every year

By Jessica Blatt Press
Integrity Icon 2020

Meet Carlos Aponte

The high school history teacher has met the challenges of illiteracy and disenfranchisement with creativity and passion

By Jessica Blatt Press
Integrity Icon 2020

Meet Thomas Quinn

The Central High School social studies teacher is empowering our city’s youth to exercise their most profound civic right: voting

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
Guest Commentary

How To Keep Kids In School

A Boys’ Latin social worker on how boosting attendance in school means changing how we approach the problem

By Kenneth Bourne II
Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2020

Driving Innovation in Education

Join us on December 15 to hear from Chicago Beyond’s Liz Dozier on how innovation fueled by empathy can upend how we educate children

By Katherine Rapin
Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2020

“Things That Matter”

With Hill-Freedman World Academy’s fourth album, students weave the anguish of 2020 into powerful new music

By Jessica Blatt Press
Citizens of the Week

Philly’s School Nurses

The unsung health heroes of the pandemic have risen to the challenge of new job descriptions

By Jessica Blatt Press

“A True Sankofa Moment”

A who’s who of civic leaders are behind Philadelphia Community Stakeholders’ new—free—pod for local students. The next challenge is scaling it.

By Jessica Blatt Press
Guest Commentary

Tackling Illiteracy

The first-ever virtual Freedom Schools Literacy Academy models liberation education — and gets results

By Sharif El-Mekki
Citizen of the Week

Larry Abrams

The South Jersey teacher and founder of BookSmiles has created a magical book bank, where teachers can load up on books to give to their students. The cost? Free.

By Christine Speer Lejeune