To help kids principals work on ho school feels

orts to improv poor-performin Atlanta school have led to bi changes in class rooms, shifts tha ar as much about tryin to create ne cultur as the ar about ne teachers.

In tw schools Perkerson Elementar an Carve High

it meant starting the year wit vastly di eren st

At Perkerson, 13 of the 39 teachers ar ne this year At Carver roughl thir of the tota st returned Carv er’s operations also were outsourced this year to th nonpr Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, making th schoo one of handful the Atlant district ha handed ove to outside operators since adopting

wide-rangin turnaround plan in 2016

While experts question whether massive st over haul reall improve schools, both principal want to chang big intangible school culture. On recent tour of th tw schools, the spok enthusias tically abou ne approach to academic and th school environment Both schools ar in high-povert neighborhoods and serv students wh face signi cant hardship in their live outsid the classroom

At Carver th teachers ar implementin project-based learnin model borrowe from Drew Charte School, with which Purpose Built is affiliated.

The teaching method puts students “at the core of the learning, Carver principal Yusuf Muhammad said

“Instea of just, ‘Here’ textbook and yo read th textbook’ or ‘... I’m going to lectur an tell yo what to do an yo have to memo rize what yo have to learn,’ the students will be designing projects tha ar aligned to of course, the state standard but also to their lives, so it’ cul turall based, he said.

Students will learn math, science and histor by studying di erent issues in their community, he said. Carve also has added engineering and robotics classe an schedule time fo the chess debate an other clubs to meet during the schoo day.

Butbeyond instruction, the principals of Perkerson an Carve ar trying to change the wa their schools feel

Muhamma often talks about making sure hi stu dents know they matter

“I just really worked on cul ture creating cultur of love ...andtha wehave high expec tations,” he said. “I kne tha we couldn’t make huge academic gains righ away with ou improvin th culture.”

Mid-interview, on class period ended and another began. As if to underscor hi point instead of shrill bell, an announcer’ voic ed the room: “Goo afternoon kings an queens At this time, we will star ou transition to ou thir block.

At Perkerson, Principal Tony Ford hugged and highve students whom he calls hi “babies an hi “kiddos.”

When he stepped int the boisterou cafeteria, hi friendl demeano briefl switched to something slightl more stern:

“It’s taking lon time to ge your attention need yo to be silent righ now, he said.

The lunc table went silent or nearly so Ford returned to warml greeting students by name.

He an hi team have se up system of reward and competition that acknowledg students an classes fo excelling. Th Perkerson Pi Stop is

schoo stor wher student ca spen “paycheck” that they earn fo good behavior

The school is divided int “houses” by grad level. Each house compete fo tokens and chance to wi party with Ford

He’s alread done pancake with the principal (he wore an apron) pretzel with the prin cipal, and puppy chow with th principal.

Imagine: Hanging ou with the principa as an honor and not punishment That’ the school e’ trying to create