Alum leads National Blue Ribbon-winning Philadelphia school

Dan Lazar, a 2011 Penn GSE alum, shares this formula for an outstanding public school: deliver excellent education, support and empower teachers, welcome community, and encourage student growth each year. These principles have guided Lazar throughout his career, from new teacher to principal of an award-winning Philadelphia school. 

Lazar recently completed his 15th year leading the Albert M. Greenfield School, a public K–8 school in Center City recognized in 2018 as a National Blue Ribbon School, a coveted federal award for excellence and student achievement. 

While the Blue Ribbon award marks a high point in Lazar’s career, he didn’t set out to become a teacher. After graduating from Vassar College with a biology degree, Lazar headed west to San Francisco, presuming he’d work in technology. While job hunting, a friend pointed out a University of California, Berkeley program offering teacher training and certification while working in underserved schools in the Bay Area. It was a trial by fire, and Lazar recalled getting a crash course in classroom management. 

“I shaped myself as an educator, what I needed to give kids and who and how I needed to be,” he said. “I found the balance of ‘yes, there can be fun,’ and there need to be boundaries.” 

After teaching in the Bay Area for several years, he enrolled in Penn GSE’s Educational Leadership program in 2004, aiming to become a public-school principal and district administrator. 

“I wanted the opportunity to immerse myself in leadership and figure out what leadership meant to me in an academic and school setting,” he said. 

At Penn GSE, he found a multitude of opportunities. Lazar mentored young Teach for America teachers 20 hours a week, melding his teaching experience with the new advisory role and guiding the young teachers through their struggles and successes. 

In his final year, Lazar ramped up his principal training, acquiring his administrative certification and shadowing veteran Mike Silverman at the Henry C. Lea School, a Penn partnership school, 20 hours per week. He even wrote his dissertation on how a first-year principal can build trust with families. 

“I was taking the pieces to construct my idea of what I would be as a leader,” he said. 

After graduation, a school district residency program placed Lazar as a co-principal at the Anna B. Day School, working with a long-time administrator. 

“Penn GSE provided me with opportunities I don’t think I could have had anywhere else,” he said. 

Lazar’s first chance to lead a school was as principal for Clara Barton Elementary School, a large K–2 school on the Feltonville educational community campus. A year later, when the Greenfield position opened up, Silverman encouraged him to apply. 

Greenfield, a once-thriving neighborhood school, was at a crossroads. In about 10 years, the school cycled through four principals. Enrollment had fallen sharply, and many neighborhood parents elected to send their children elsewhere. 

When he arrived in 2009, Lazar was determined to make it a neighborhood fixture again. At first, he played the role of the new kid, carefully watching and observing. 

“I wanted to learn the culture of the building and the community,” Lazar said. “It was a community starving for an identity and leadership that welcomed the community in.” 

To encourage neighborhood participation, Lazar opened the doors (figuratively and physically) and invited community members, parents, and caregivers into classrooms and events. Parents could find him to chat before and after school on the playground. 

Lazar also surveyed teachers and staff on their needs and priorities. When teachers came up with problems, Lazar asked what they wanted and followed their lead. 

“It was a shift for them to have someone supportive,” he said. “I try to take as much off their plates as possible so they can focus on the classrooms.” 

Another of Lazar's top priorities was simple but meaningful: He wanted to learn every student’s name. 

“It’s so important to greet them by name and say hello,” Lazar said. “It creates the idea that someone beyond my teacher in the building cares about me.” 

Over time, Greenfield’s test scores steadily improved, while historically underrepresented students in lower quartiles moved into higher tiers, qualifying the school for the National Blue Ribbon designation. 

Today, the Greenfield curriculum is dynamic, and student performance is strong, thanks to the efforts of committed teachers and staff. The active Home-School Association funds enrichment at each grade level during the school day, from yoga for kindergarteners to ballroom dancing in fifth grade. Eighth graders visit the Philadelphia Film Society and create their own short films. Community partners, including Mill Creek Farm and Bartram’s Garden, visit for special events. 

Greenfield is now so popular that it only enrolls students from its zone. Even with a Blue Ribbon, Lazar says the hard work marches on. 

“It is nice to be recognized for our hard work, and it is validation for everything we’ve done, but we keep working on our practice as educators and keep growing our students,” he said.