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Dr. Tony B. Watlington Sr.
2025 Innovation Award - Inspirational Excellence

Dr. Tony B. Watlington Sr. was appointed Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, the nation’s 8th largest school district with nearly 200,000 students, on April 1, 2022 and was sworn in on June 16, 2022. A collaborative and results-oriented leader, Dr. Watlington began his tenure by launching an aggressive Entry Plan composed of 3 phases. Phase one included a listening and learning tour with 90 sessions in his first 100 days, phase 2 included a Transition Team composed of 100 diverse Philadelphians and K-12 national experts who issued a formal report with short and long-term recommendations, and phase 3 includes the development of an aggressive 5-year strategic planning process to position the school district to become the fastest improving large, urban school district in the country.

Under Superintendent Watlington’s leadership, the School District of Philadelphia outpaces other large urban districts nationwide and similar districts in Pennsylvania for math in grades 3-8 and reading in grades 3-8 based on the Education Recovery Scorecard, a report released by Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. This report included 30 states representing about 60% of the national public school student population.

Prior to joining The School District of Philadelphia, Dr. Watlington served as superintendent of the Rowan-Salisbury Schools, North Carolina’s first and only Renewal School District. Under his leadership, the district’s 3rd grade district literacy ranking among the state’s 115 school districts rose from 96 in 2019 to 74 in 2021, the percent of schools that met or exceed state growth targets increased from 55% to 71%, and the percent of schools that exceeded state growth targets increased from 6% to 29%. Additionally, the district ranked #4 among 115 school districts in the state for career and technical (CTE) concentrator students and Dr. Watlington and his team were featured on the NBC Nightly News for innovative leadership during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Dr. Watlington previously served as Chief of Schools in Guilford County Schools, the third largest school district in North Carolina and the 47th largest among 14,000 school districts in the United States. While serving in this role, the district achieved 4 of the 5 top ranked high schools in the state of North Carolina (according to US News and World Report), as well as increased graduation rates and teacher satisfaction while reducing teacher turnover, student absenteeism, and student discipline incidents.

Dr. Tony B. Watlington Sr.
2025 Innovation Award - Inspirational Excellence

Dr. Tony B. Watlington Sr. was appointed Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, the nation’s 8th largest school district with nearly 200,000 students, on April 1, 2022 and was sworn in on June 16, 2022. A collaborative and results-oriented leader, Dr. Watlington began his tenure by launching an aggressive Entry Plan composed of 3 phases. Phase one included a listening and learning tour with 90 sessions in his first 100 days, phase 2 included a Transition Team composed of 100 diverse Philadelphians and K-12 national experts who issued a formal report with short and long-term recommendations, and phase 3 includes the development of an aggressive 5-year strategic planning process to position the school district to become the fastest improving large, urban school district in the country.

Under Superintendent Watlington’s leadership, the School District of Philadelphia outpaces other large urban districts nationwide and similar districts in Pennsylvania for math in grades 3-8 and reading in grades 3-8 based on the Education Recovery Scorecard, a report released by Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. This report included 30 states representing about 60% of the national public school student population.

Prior to joining The School District of Philadelphia, Dr. Watlington served as superintendent of the Rowan-Salisbury Schools, North Carolina’s first and only Renewal School District. Under his leadership, the district’s 3rd grade district literacy ranking among the state’s 115 school districts rose from 96 in 2019 to 74 in 2021, the percent of schools that met or exceed state growth targets increased from 55% to 71%, and the percent of schools that exceeded state growth targets increased from 6% to 29%. Additionally, the district ranked #4 among 115 school districts in the state for career and technical (CTE) concentrator students and Dr. Watlington and his team were featured on the NBC Nightly News for innovative leadership during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Dr. Watlington previously served as Chief of Schools in Guilford County Schools, the third largest school district in North Carolina and the 47th largest among 14,000 school districts in the United States. While serving in this role, the district achieved 4 of the 5 top ranked high schools in the state of North Carolina (according to US News and World Report), as well as increased graduation rates and teacher satisfaction while reducing teacher turnover, student absenteeism, and student discipline incidents.