A West Philadelphia high school principal has received two prestigious awards.
Paul Robeson High School for Human Services principal Richard Gordon IV received the 2020 Distinguished Service to Education Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
As a state winner, Gordon will be a nominee for the NASSP National Principal of the Year Award. The organization’s virtual awards program will be held July 20.
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“Receiving this award is truly an honor, but it’s not just about me. It’s about the hard work of our staff, students, and parents,” Gordon said. “These are the people who believed in me from day one and I couldn’t have done any of this without them.”
One week after he received the NASSP award, Gordon was also named the 2020 Pennsylvania Principal of the Year Award by the Pennsylvania Principals Association.
Gordon said hearing the news of the second award was “bittersweet” as he was dealing with the loss of one of his students to gun violence.
“I was with the family of David Williams all day and later that afternoon I got the call that I won the state principal award,” Gordon said. “It was bittersweet and I cried. You receive a great honor, but a family and our school is dealing with tragedy. It was a challenge for me personally.”
Gordon became the principal of Robeson in 2013, the same year the former School Reform Commission announced they would reprieve the school from closing. At the time, Robeson was among the School District of Philadelphia’s 30 lowest-performing schools.
