Elementary school principal MADELINE CARTWRIGHT took over the run-down Blaine Elementary School in a run-down, drug-infested neighborhood in North Philadelphia and turned it into a school that works. One of her first acts when she took over the school was to get down on her hands and knees and scrub the foul-smelling children's bathroom. CARTWRIGHT got parents involved in the school, made it a safe place for the children to learn, brought up test scores and attendance, and became the subject of a a 1990 New York Times Magazine cover story: "Hope in Hell's Classroom." Now she's written her own story of Blaine Elementary School: "For the Children: Lessons from a Visionary Principal." (Doubleday). (REBROADCAST. ORIGINALLY AIRED 9/7/93.
Copyright 1994 Fresh Air