How Schools are Prepping for the Common Core: Philadelphia Mennonite High School

With their exemplary community service outreach, progressive steps towards college preparation and more, we were very pleased to welcome Philadelphia Mennonite High School this year to our network. Barbara Moses, the principal of the school, took some time out of her schedule to speak with us about the steps they’re taking to prepare for the Common Core. Throughout the school year, professional development sessions were implemented where educators looked at available Common Core resources and participated in workshops. Principal Moses provided her staff with questions to see where they were aligned with “Rigor and Grit.” The teachers would also break off into teams and would report to each group in order to collectively speak about what the school can do to become more rigorous. For the summer, Moses gave each educator assignments in which they would create unit and lesson plans to better prepare them for the approaching school year. She says that it’s important to lead children to the goal of what they have set out for them; to paint them along the latitude and longitude line of becoming more focused. “As long as we’re marching together, we’ll be the hit of the parade,” she said. What did you think of how Philadelphia Mennonite High School is preparing for the state standards? Is your school doing something different or similar? Let us know in the comments section below.