Just inside the doors, where the hallway smells faintly of pencil shavings and lemon cleaner, a cardboard box waits.

The first time I sang Down There by the Train in public was not in a bar or on a stage, but in the chapel of the K–8 school I lead in southwest Philadelphia.

Pew’s April 2025 report offers a clear, nuanced snapshot of how U.S. teens experience social media and what schools can act on now.

A corner store opens to the street. A fourteen-year-old steps on a milk crate behind the counter so he can see over the register.

A summer evening in Southwest Philadelphia. Porch lights flicker on as dusk settles over narrow rowhouse streets.

In Philadelphia during the pandemic, school staffs were asked to do far more than teach. When classrooms went virtual, they became tech support — walking families through logins, troubleshooting devices, and keeping kids connected.

Most mornings, after I step through the front doors of the school I lead, I begin to walk.

In recent years, trauma-informed pedagogy has become a widely embraced framework in American education.

Last year, we tried something new. A small group of middle schoolers from my K–8 school in Southwest Philadelphia climbed into a rented fifteen-passenger van and left their city blocks behind.

I stepped away from a Headship without knowing where I was going next.

In “Can AI Transform Education?” Dr. Asyia Kazmi draws on decades of personal experience and global insight to examine the transformative potential of generative AI in education.