Gesu's 17th Annual Symposium on Transforming Inner-City Education:
The Journey Through an Independent School

“Teaching academics is easy. We would not leave students unprepared,” said Steve Piltch, Head of School at Shipley School. “Teaching emotional literacy is the harder issue,” he said. Yet this is the work that has to be done and the reason over 200 education leaders gathered together in the Gesu School gymnasium for the school’s 17th Annual Symposium on Transforming Inner-City Education on November 7th. 

What do students do and say in the face of someone who talks, acts, and looks differently? How do we identify racism and classism in our schools? How do we strengthen cultural understanding among our student body and quell stereotype threats? How do we give all students not only academic guidance, but also social mentoring? 

Both personal stories and ideas for systemic shifts were exchanged among Andre Robert Lee, Keynote Speaker and Director of “The Prep School Negro,” Symposium panelists, and audience members to begin to formulate potential answers to these questions. 

• Read the event's synopsis
• View the program and the panelists' bios
• View media coverage of the event
  • KYW
  • Newsworks
  • CBS Local
• ​View the event photos
• View video footage on the Gesu YouTube page
   

Panel

Henry Fairfax
Director of Admissions, The Haverford School

Eileen Killeen
Director of Admissions, Merion Mercy Academy

Steve Piltch, Moderator
Head of School, The Shipley School

Daryl Shore '94
Vice President, JP Morgan Chase, Graduate of The Westtown School

Dr. Howard Stevenson
Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania

We thank our 2014 symposium sponsors:

Cozen O'Connor
Glenmede
Locust Capital Management LLC
JP Morgan Chase
Morgan Lewis
Philadelphia School Partnership
St. Joseph's Preparatory School
The Shipley School 
Mr. and Mrs. Mark I. Solomon
Mr. Craig White