“It’s people like Mr. Pelzer who inspire you to want to learn.”
His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew
His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew
Hilderbrand Pelzer III is a national award-winning educator with more than twenty years of experience in the field. He has served as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, as well as an assistant regional superintendent. Hilderbrand has also been an adjunct faculty member teaching graduate-level courses to aspiring principals in school resources management and current issues in education.
Hilderbrand has led major efforts that have resulted in the academic reorganization and improvement of various types of public schools with challenging learning environments. These efforts have included his dynamic leadership at Pennypack House School, a Philadelphia public school that operates within the Philadelphia Prison System, the fifth-largest urban county jail system in the United States. In this role, he directed the School District of Philadelphia’s participation in the prison system and is credited with the effective leadership of change in this large, complex public-sector organization. He created the Juvenile-Focused Correctional Education School Model, which featured his non-graded/cohort-teaching partnerships; brought instructional coherence and capacity solutions to the school; and effectively addressed the long-standing legal, logistical, and educational dilemmas that had thwarted the delivery of education to incarcerated juveniles. In addition, he developed a dynamic collaboration among teachers, social workers, correctional officers, and prison administration. This initiative earned national praise for the school as a model of success in education.
Hilderbrand served as an Assistant Regional Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia’s Alternative Education Region for three years. In this position, he had overall responsibility for providing instructional leadership and support to the district’s portfolio of alternative education serving 11,000 students in grades 3–12 across 42 alternative education programs, schools, and special school settings throughout the city. He was a major part of the effort to provide every student with a quality education and focused on ending long-standing student achievement disparities. Hilderbrand was instrumental in creating new alternative schools for students expelled from the school district and was directly responsible for the academic strategy of these schools. He also spearheaded the development and implementation of the region’s school performance report card system, an accountability system concerned with teaching and learning, which provided qualitative and quantitative progress reports on all schools in the network and led to increased student and teacher success in the classroom.
Hilderbrand also served as a principal of large and small high schools within the School District of Philadelphia. In this role, he provided outstanding leadership, directing numerous education reform initiatives. Schools under his leadership made several lasting improvements, including improved student achievement, an aligned curriculum, and demonstrated instructional quality. These secondary school–level principalships have contributed to his understanding of how to successfully organize schools for improvement and better performance and design quality educational programs.
Hilderbrand has received numerous international, national, and local awards and accolades for his work in secondary education. Prince Andrew, Duke of York, lauded his school leadership and extraordinary ability to inspire public school students to want to learn. He was named to Greatist.com’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness 2011” for using education to influence the way people think about fitness, health, and happiness. In 2008, Hilderbrand received the Queen Smith Award from the Council of the Great City Schools, which is the national organization exclusively representing the needs of America’s largest urban school districts. The award is presented annually to an educator chosen from 67 of these school districts for their significant contributions to urban education. Media outlets, legislative committees, government agencies, civic groups, and educational organizations have regularly sought Hilderbrand’s educational counsel and leadership.
In July 2012, Hilderbrand took over the leadership of the Laura H. Carnell School, a large, persistently struggling elementary school serving 1,700 students in grades K–8 and occupying three buildings. With student achievement at crisis level, he was asked to assume responsibility for turning the school around in the wake of one of the worst years in its history. In the past, Hilderbrand has led major efforts that have resulted in the academic reorganization and improvement of a variety of public schools involving challenging learning environments, and so this newest assignment is expected to be equally successful.
Hilderbrand is the author of Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison. The book draws on his professional experience and his nationally acclaimed work inside the Philadelphia Prison System. It deals with numerous topics, such as the historical assumptions about the capacities and capability of schools for incarcerated youths inside juvenile detention centers and adult county jails, and offers a successful model for addressing legal, logistical, and educational dilemmas in challenging learning environments. The book was heralded by the Midwest Book Review as “strongly recommended for those in charge of the education of imprisoned youth,” and called “a guide” for those facing educational challenges.
Hildebrand Pelzer III holds a Bachelor of Science in physical education from Hampton University, a Master of Education in educational administration from Cheyney University, and a superintendent’s letter of eligibility from Saint Joseph’s University. He has also completed the Harvard Institute for School Leadership: Leadership for Large-Scale Improvement Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Hilderbrand has led major efforts that have resulted in the academic reorganization and improvement of various types of public schools with challenging learning environments. These efforts have included his dynamic leadership at Pennypack House School, a Philadelphia public school that operates within the Philadelphia Prison System, the fifth-largest urban county jail system in the United States. In this role, he directed the School District of Philadelphia’s participation in the prison system and is credited with the effective leadership of change in this large, complex public-sector organization. He created the Juvenile-Focused Correctional Education School Model, which featured his non-graded/cohort-teaching partnerships; brought instructional coherence and capacity solutions to the school; and effectively addressed the long-standing legal, logistical, and educational dilemmas that had thwarted the delivery of education to incarcerated juveniles. In addition, he developed a dynamic collaboration among teachers, social workers, correctional officers, and prison administration. This initiative earned national praise for the school as a model of success in education.
Hilderbrand served as an Assistant Regional Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia’s Alternative Education Region for three years. In this position, he had overall responsibility for providing instructional leadership and support to the district’s portfolio of alternative education serving 11,000 students in grades 3–12 across 42 alternative education programs, schools, and special school settings throughout the city. He was a major part of the effort to provide every student with a quality education and focused on ending long-standing student achievement disparities. Hilderbrand was instrumental in creating new alternative schools for students expelled from the school district and was directly responsible for the academic strategy of these schools. He also spearheaded the development and implementation of the region’s school performance report card system, an accountability system concerned with teaching and learning, which provided qualitative and quantitative progress reports on all schools in the network and led to increased student and teacher success in the classroom.
Hilderbrand also served as a principal of large and small high schools within the School District of Philadelphia. In this role, he provided outstanding leadership, directing numerous education reform initiatives. Schools under his leadership made several lasting improvements, including improved student achievement, an aligned curriculum, and demonstrated instructional quality. These secondary school–level principalships have contributed to his understanding of how to successfully organize schools for improvement and better performance and design quality educational programs.
Hilderbrand has received numerous international, national, and local awards and accolades for his work in secondary education. Prince Andrew, Duke of York, lauded his school leadership and extraordinary ability to inspire public school students to want to learn. He was named to Greatist.com’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness 2011” for using education to influence the way people think about fitness, health, and happiness. In 2008, Hilderbrand received the Queen Smith Award from the Council of the Great City Schools, which is the national organization exclusively representing the needs of America’s largest urban school districts. The award is presented annually to an educator chosen from 67 of these school districts for their significant contributions to urban education. Media outlets, legislative committees, government agencies, civic groups, and educational organizations have regularly sought Hilderbrand’s educational counsel and leadership.
In July 2012, Hilderbrand took over the leadership of the Laura H. Carnell School, a large, persistently struggling elementary school serving 1,700 students in grades K–8 and occupying three buildings. With student achievement at crisis level, he was asked to assume responsibility for turning the school around in the wake of one of the worst years in its history. In the past, Hilderbrand has led major efforts that have resulted in the academic reorganization and improvement of a variety of public schools involving challenging learning environments, and so this newest assignment is expected to be equally successful.
Hilderbrand is the author of Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison. The book draws on his professional experience and his nationally acclaimed work inside the Philadelphia Prison System. It deals with numerous topics, such as the historical assumptions about the capacities and capability of schools for incarcerated youths inside juvenile detention centers and adult county jails, and offers a successful model for addressing legal, logistical, and educational dilemmas in challenging learning environments. The book was heralded by the Midwest Book Review as “strongly recommended for those in charge of the education of imprisoned youth,” and called “a guide” for those facing educational challenges.
Hildebrand Pelzer III holds a Bachelor of Science in physical education from Hampton University, a Master of Education in educational administration from Cheyney University, and a superintendent’s letter of eligibility from Saint Joseph’s University. He has also completed the Harvard Institute for School Leadership: Leadership for Large-Scale Improvement Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
