How Andrew Bott Turned Around One of the Poorest-Performing Schools in the State

Orchard Gardens Pilot School received federal funding in 2010 because of its consistently poor performance, so principal Andrew Bott used the money to replace 80 percent of his staff, extend the school day from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and hire outside nonprofits to fill in the gaps. And he made a bunch of changes that don’t require a ton of money, too, like giving his students praise over the loud-system and instituting a silence policy in the hallways. The result? Test scores are up, and morale is up, too. [WBUR]