Dr. Cassandra Ruffin sits. "To be honest, I never sit," she says. Mostly, it's up and down four flights of stairs, popping into classrooms. Ruffin is principal of Philadelphia High School for Girls. Three years ago, she became the first alumna to head the institution, founded in 1848.
Dr. Ruffin is soft-spoken, direct, precise, and formal. She's always Dr. Ruffin. "We're an open book," she says of her school of 1,066 students. Ladies, she calls them.
Khaki or dark pants are required with a white top. She pulls over a girl in jeans and a dark T-shirt. Her attire is an expression of greater troubles, Ruffin explains. A meeting is called with a counselor, a phone call placed to a parent.
"Though Girls High is a special-admit, academic high school, we deal with some of the same issues present in a comprehensive school. We have a girl who is having trouble adjusting to high school," she explains. "And another who just interviewed with Harvard." A student strolls the corridor, her belly swollen. How often does this happen?
"One pregnancy is too many," Ruffin says.
The school long had graduations twice a year. Ruffin is a member of Class 211, from 1967. In June, Class 253 graduated with 96 percent headed to college.
Ruffin is one of Philadelphia's 62 high school principals required to meet 27 indicators in the School Annual Reports including community satisfaction, breakfast participation, safety audits. Her attendance goal: 97 percent. The SEPTA strike blew that up, 78 percent on the best day. A principal deals with conflicting objectives: the district's standards, her own, and the cold slap of reality.
And tests, tests, tests. Everything is quantified to measure quality. "What the data do is keep you honest," she says. "But data have become a huge part of our lives."
An understatement. You can drown in what she calls "administrivia." Data are updated constantly, sometimes daily. Eleventh graders take 15 tests a year. The month of April buckles to the PSSA, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the benchmark of testing, though there are the Benchmark tests, too.
Parent participation is an obstacle. "It's very low. Parents perceive high school students as being more independent. I struggle to reach beyond these walls." A teacher suggests sending conference notifications via e-mail. Another problem. Ruffin estimates only half of the parents have access at home.
"I would do laptops for every kid." A dream, except in some suburban school districts.
Girls High, at Broad and Olney, was built in 1957. It's a time warp, a movie set. The lighting's brutal. The sound system bleats. The paint, ancient, though it's being freshened after more than two decades. The newest computers? Three years old. Only eight classrooms have interactive boards. All three fall teams made the playoffs, though the athletic director concedes "there is no athletic budget."
Next door is Central High, coed since 1983. It has twice as many students, more than twice the percentage of students scoring "advanced" on the math PSSA, and almost twice as high on the verbal. Central has a breathtaking library, built by alumni. "We reach out to alumnae. They're generous, but it's not as easy," Ruffin says, men tending to outearn women. "We're only dealing with needs, not wants."
Ruffin is a 38-year veteran of the school district, including a stint in central administration. Her school looks precisely the same as when she attended 40 years ago, yet so much has changed.
"All faculty discussions begin with data, where we are and where we want to go, and we lay our plan for how we're going to get there," Ruffin says. "We sit together, as a team, and consider our accountability filtered through a variety of lenses." Does she share experiences with other principals? "Frankly, none of us has the time," she says.
"I frequently do remind myself, the staff, our students that everything we do, what brings all of us together, is what's in the best interest of the children," Ruffin says.
Her day began near dawn, 6:30. She will not leave until 8 p.m.
Contact columnist Karen Heller at 215-854-2586 or kheller@phillynews.com.
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