Junior High School 22, in the South Bronx, had run through six principals in just over two years when Shimon Waronker was named the seventh.
On his first visit, in October 2004, he found a police officer arresting a student and calling for backup to handle the swelling crowd. Students roamed the hallways with abandon; in one class of 30, only 5 students had bothered to show up. “It was chaos,” Mr. Waronker recalled. “I was like, this can’t be real.”
Teachers, parents and students at the school, which is mostly Hispanic and black, were equally taken aback by the sight of their new leader: A member of the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism with a beard, a black hat and a velvet yarmulke.
“The talk was, ‘You’re not going to believe who’s running the show,’ ” said Lisa DeBonis, now an assistant principal.
At a time when the Bloomberg administration has put principals at the center of its efforts to overhaul schools, making the search for great school leaders more pressing than ever, the tale of Mr. Waronker shows that sometimes, the most unlikely of candidates can produce surprising results.
Attendance among the 670 students is above 93 percent, and some of the offerings seem positively elite, like a new French dual-language program, one of only three in the city.
“It’s an entirely different place,” Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein said in a recent interview. “If I could clone Shimon Waronker, I would do that immediately.”
(Click HERE to read the extended article on the NY Times website)
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20 Responses
nice to see such kiddush Hashem
A kiddish hashem. However, the bias against him is obvious. he was denied jobs for being a poor cultural fit. Would they allow that excuse for a black principal in a white school? One of the parents said that when he came she wondered if now they would have to PAY for lunch.
We could use him in some of our English departments as well.
of course if you read the rest of the “times” article they spew their venomous left wing liberal agenda (red diaper dopper baby symdrome)against him.
ps a worthwhile read would be Skull caps and switchblades bt dr Laz
a chabad teacher in an inner city school
A kiddush HaShem! I wish the media would recognize the incredible contributions by the frum world.
wow! what a kiddush Hashem!
What a kiddush hashem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A kiddush hashem.
why do you stop the article (albeit do indeed provide a link) right before the paragraphs that provide a different outlook on his capability and performance?
thank you for posting the article, and thank you for your censorship!!
Is he available for a job as principal in my son’s yeshiva!
wow
1st a politician
then a news editor
now an educator
we’re getting so much press, maybe we are becoming the next big cause celeb by the mainstream media. :o)
Have a wonderful Shabbos to All my friends out there!
These kids do not hate Jews. They need a loving teacher and principal,which they now have. It is a novelty for them to have a “real” Jew befriend them.His Torah background will help him to be a caring adult role model.
TORAH IM DERECH ERETZ In action.
mdlevine
you took the words out of my mouth you copycat-)
seriously speaking its y’mos hamoshiach.
have a great shabbos
Firstly, I teach at a school a few blocks away, and it’s tough. Our students come and go from Juvi on a daily basis. Some live in shelters with one parent, and others live with families that are too old to care for themselves, let alone care for the children.
Secondly, Teachers get assaulted every day, and the administration is too busy making themselves look good to the public. I wish I had a principal whom I can rely on. FYI I teach in a yeshiva during the afternoon, and sometimes I wish I can bring some of them to the S. Bronx to see the similarities and differences. Lastly, Black and Latino kids and their parents are not initially judgmental, as long as you show them respect and the will to help. There will always be someone saying “look how well that Jewish principal is doing” but as soon as something goes wrong, they use the “because I’m black….)In other words, the same Kiddush Hashen can become a Chilul hashem in seconds. That Is the true challenge we’re facing as white Jewish educators. Bottom line, This principal should be appointed Chancellor, because if he can do it to one school, he can train others to do it to others.
It’s nice once in a while to see a frum yid in the papers doing a Kiddish Hashem for a change…
OK, folks – seriously, can we get this guy to rotate in our local yehivos??? Sadly, our own kids (well, your’s, not mine) dont behave any differently and could use some chizuk like this as well from a guy like him… Don’t agree?? Look at the explosive number of “off the derech” yehiva kids today. Enough said, vehamayvin yovin.
to anyone who said our kids are just like theirs,
how dare you!!!
i know our system isn’t perfect but you can’t compare chutzpah or dropouts to gangs, kill threats and no attendance!
appreciate that even the “fringe” children of torah homes, with proper educators who are moral and have values, like what this principal is trying to instill, are better than half the kids out there!
CME 2-10-08 @0600hrs.
Beg to differ.
May I invite you to the programs that host these “fringe” kids?? Apparently you DONT deal with them, I DO!!
How dare you bury your head in the sand?? Yes they come from torah homes – where the parents and siblings also bury their heads in the sand. Some, perhaps many, behave “just like, if not worse than” R”L the very ones that Mr. Waronker “tamed”.
Please don’t come out here and give mussar to us para-professionals who HAVE what it takes to approach these unfortunate victims of today’s corrupt and one-track minded yeshiva system and show them that they DON’T have to be like the ones Mr. Waronker rehabilitates, that there is an alternative. B”H, how many of them have come back and are now themselves mentors.
I apologize for coming on strong, but your comment was hurtful and clearly made out of a lack of knowledge and thus left me little option. If you really want to get involved, let me know and I’ll gladly direct you to the right organizations, you’ll feel great after the first kid who turns around because of you.
Pashuteh Yid,
Excellent comments.
I wish some of our less poshuteh yidden would take Hillel’s words to heart.