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Shimon Waronker
Shimon Waronker

Shimon Waronker is a doctoral student in the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard. He is the former Principal of the Jordan L. Mott School in New York City, also known as Junior High School 22.

Waronker came to public attention^[1] after his success in taking a failing school in a tough neighborhood, Junior High School 22, in the South Bronx, also called the Jordan L. Mott School, and turning it around.^[2] This drew attention because Waronker, a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism who wears a conservative suit, a beard, a black hat and a velvet yarmulke, had to overcome prejudice both in getting the job and in gaining the trust of the parents, teacher and students at the school.^[2]

Waronker, a former intelligence officer in the United State Army, took over a school listed as one of the 12 most violent in New York.^[3] There were active gangs, attacks and fights that led to serious hospitalization, drug use and alcohol on campus.^[2][4] Waronker’s methods included expelling and suspending large numbers of students, adding guidance counselors, a psychologist, social workers,and family workers, to the staff and finding ways for more teachers to attend advanced educational seminars. Students get one-on-one or small group tutoring one to three times a week. There are frequent field trips and the school has books in every classroom, a new library, new science labs, and laptop computer carts. The school is divided into eight small academies, so that small groups of teachers can focus on small groups of students.^[2][4] Mott teaches such subjects as math and science in a choice of Spanish and English or French and English with the aim of producing students who can compete in the global economy.^[4][5]

The school was an impact school that was protected by the NYPD.^{[citation needed]}

Waronker was awarded the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques on October 20, 2009 and was knighted by French Ambassador Pierre Vimont at the Tweed Courthouse, headquarters of the New York City Department of Education.^[6]

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