The Workshop School serves 215 students in grades 9-12 in the School District of Philadelphia’s Innovation Network.  Its leaders brought me on for a ten- month engagement to help them prepare for a leadership transition and identify the optimal organizational structure to support its future ambitions.

My Approach

After taking time to deeply understand their context, we identified the appropriate timeline, process, and successor leader for the school to allow the founding principal to move into a role with an affiliated non-profit (Workshop Learning) creating the least disruption for students and staff.  I also conducted a programmatic audit of Workshop Learning, providing recommendations to formalize and professionalize its operations.

Our Results

Since the completion of this work, the school successfully managed its leadership transition, and the successor identified through this process is in her third year leading the school.  Workshop Learning now employs the founding principal and continues to effectively support the school. To learn more about Workshop Learning, click here.