This year’s Lindback Awards, celebrating the best educators and principals in Philadelphia, include some familiar faces to the Penn GSE community. Lauren Overton, GED'16, GRD'24, principal of the Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School (known as Penn Alexander), was named a 2026 recipient of the prestigious Lindback Award for Distinguished Principals. The honor recognizes exceptional leadership and lasting impact in Philadelphia public schools, placing Overton among just seven principals citywide selected this year.
Alongside Overton, four Penn GSE alumni teachers have earned Lindback Distinguished Teaching Awards, which honor outstanding classroom educators. The 2026 awardees include Octavia Blount, GED’02; Maya Jonsson, GED’21; Ella Komita Moussa, GED’35; and Lisa Yuk Kuen Yau, GED’04, GED’05. Three additional winners serve at Penn GSE partner schools.
As part of her award, Overton will receive a $20,000 grant to support a signature initiative at Penn Alexander. According to reporting by The Philadelphia Inquirer, she plans to launch a “Belonging Blueprint” that weaves together racial literacy, wellness, and community-building practices throughout the school. The initiative aims to ensure that every student and family feels seen, supported, and valued, both academically and socially.
Each year, 60 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award winners each year are selected for their exceptional contributions to students’ intellectual growth and character development. Awardees receive $3,500, but the recognition itself reflects the profound influence these educators have on their classrooms and school communities.
The year’s Penn GSE alumni winners represent both a wide range of disciplines and neighborhoods across Philadelphia. Blount serves as science chair and teaches at Furness High School. Jonsson is a social studies teacher at Kensington Health Sciences Academy. Komita Moussa is a special education teacher at Olney High School. And Yau is a fourth-grade teacher at Key Elementary.
Excellence was also recognized at Penn GSE’s partner schools. Penn Alexander teacher Charles Foster and Naomi Warren of Henry C. Lea School were both named Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award recipients. As was Fayiona Francis of High School of the Future, one of the partner schools for the Academy at Penn. (Blout’s school, Furness, is also a partner in the Academy.)
Together, these honorees reflect Penn GSE’s enduring presence in Philadelphia education, and the School’s ongoing commitment to developing leaders and edcuators who make a lasting difference in students’ lives.
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