Kathleen Sligh's colleagues at Roxborough High call her "an education angel."
At George Washington High, Yvonne Schwiker is a "treasure and an inspiration," her principal said.
The Inquirer's annual survey of education in the region, with a searchable database of school and district information, and multimedia profiles of area students and high schools.
With the dropout problem in Philadelphia at crisis proportions, a chance-of-a-lifetime program offers 40 select students a shot at breaking the cycle of failure. But can they take advantage?
The following excerpts are from the nominating information submitted to the Lindback Foundation for the winning Philadelphia high school teachers. There is one winner from each school.
Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has ordered a teacher hiring freeze, saying she wants to make sure there are enough jobs for the large number of teachers who need new assignments in September.
New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler has presented a broad public education plan that would make student performance "the primary yardstick" for judging teachers and schools.
David R. Gray, the incoming president of Valley Forge Military Academy and College, says he accepted the post because it will allow him to combine his passions for educating students and fostering leadership.
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Twenty years before the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education forced the policy of separate but unequal onto the national agenda, the families of 212 black children in Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships boycotted their own segregated schools.
Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" will blare on Saturday where one might hardly expect it: at the inauguration of Swarthmore College's first female president - who also is an ordained minister and religious scholar.
School principals are "between a rock and a hard place," one told the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations on Thursday: getting penalized if they report violence accurately and doing students a disservice if they don't.
Book covers are worn and ripped. Shelves are half-empty. The linoleum floor is scuffed and scraped, and there's only one electrical outlet for the entire large room.
The Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee responded Tuesday to disclosures of alleged financial mismanagement at Philadelphia charter schools by unanimously approving a sweeping bill that would increase oversight of the state's 135 charters.
As talk of a sinking economy subsides, this year's soon-to-be college graduates are begging for instructions for success. Armed for the task, many commencement speakers are spreading the same secret: service work.
Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has received a $65,000 performance bonus, but the Philadelphia School District said the detailed criteria under which she earned the money were not public information.
The June graduation of thousands of students could be at risk after most who took New Jersey's retooled alternative exit exam during the winter failed to pass, according to data obtained by the Education Law Center.
Homeowners in the Pennsylvania suburbs due property-tax relief provided by slot-machine revenue will get anywhere from $72 to $632 next school year, down slightly for most from last year, according to figures released Monday by the state.
Inconsistent policies. Shoddy record-keeping. Misstep after misstep. "Overzealous" use of technology "without any apparent regard for privacy considerations."
Those were the conclusions a team of attorneys and computer experts reached after a 10-week investigation into how, when, and why the Lower Merion School District turned on the Web cams and software that secretly snapped thousands of photos and screen shots from student's laptop computers.
Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has been awarded a $65,000 performance bonus, an official confirmed Monday night.
The bonus, awarded by the School Reform Commission, is on top of Ackerman's $325,000 salary. She became the head of the nation's eighth-largest school district in June 2008.
Valley Forge Military Academy and College announced Monday that a West Point administrator who is retiring after 30 years in the Army will become the Radnor institution's new president.
What began as a federal probe of a single charter school in Northeast Philadelphia two years ago has spread to at least 18 schools and may be the largest federal charter investigation in the country, experts say.
The plan, he thought, was to use the Philadelphia pedigree, the Ivy League credentials, the congressional office experience, the polished persona - and run for office in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia School District officials expect a heavy turnout at a Saturday teacher-recruitment fair.
About 1,200 people turned up for a similar event earlier this month, and Estelle Matthews, district human resources chief, said she expected a large crowd.
Inside the science lab, the visitor leaned forward, listening to teenagers describe their work - a biodiesel project, a windmill, distillation systems that may be used to purify water in Sierra Leone someday.
Shareesa Bollers often seeks out her teachers after class, eager to soak up just a little bit more knowledge. She runs track, gives tours of her school, helps select its new teachers, and is a playwright and actress.
Central Bucks School District officials - like others across the region wrestling with gaps in new budgets - have stirred a wave of opposition from parents with a plan to cut bus service for more than 600 students, most from elementary schools.
