Chapter Eight-Complete (Installments 1 to 8)
Chapter Eight—April
Confessions of an Urban Principal
by Frank Murphy
This book provides a first hand account of the life of an urban elementary school principal in the era of No Child Left Behind. On Monday and Wednesday, I post an installment of the current month’s chapter. The complete text for previous chapters can be found listed under Categories.
The names of all students and parents who are described in this story have been altered in order to protect their privacy.
Installment 1 of 8/ Stop That Train
The deluge of rain that was soaking the city this last Saturday was no mere April shower. It was a monumental storm that brought thoughts of Noah’s ark to mind. I wondered,who would come out on such a miserable weekend morning for a school meeting? I had wanted to pull my comforter up over my head and stay in bed for the whole day. But reluctantly I had dressed and headed off to North Philly. My stomach was knotted in apprehension.
My wife Mary Anne went with me to the church where the meeting was to be held. Her presence had insured that someone other than Reverend Moore, the pastor of the church, and myself were in attendance. The reverend has been helping me to organize the resistance to the district’s plan to shift the school’s managemen
