Neubauer Fellows Community

Rebecca Benarroch

School Design Lead
Philadelphia Middle College Foundation
2018 Neubauer Fellow
Sector
Nonprofit
Education
M.S.Ed. Reading/Writing/Literacy, University of Pennsylvania
B.A. English/American Literature, New York University
Administrative Certification, Temple University
"Pedagogy should work in tandem with students’ own knowledge of their community and grassroots organizations to push forward new ideas for social change, not just be a tool to enhance test scores or grades. Pedagogy, regardless of its name, is useless without teachers dedicated to challenging systemic oppression with intersectional social justice." -Bettina L. Love

Rebecca is currently developing the instructional program for an innovative secondary charter school, and she’s part of the founding team working on its partnerships and operations. Previously, Rebecca served as the Middle School Principal (2012-19) and K-8 Principal (2019-23) of the Fernhill Campus of Wissahickon Charter School (WCS). WCS’s curriculum and school culture emphasize the environment, service learning, peace and conflict resolution, and family involvement. Under Rebecca’s leadership, WCS-Fernhill Campus achieved dramatic increases in students earning proficient or advanced on the language arts section of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), and almost no students earning a score below basic. Furthermore, nearly half of 8th graders earned proficient or advanced on the PSSA’s science section.

When Rebecca was the Middle School Director, the Fernhill Campus ranked 1st-4th of all Philadelphia peer schools on the Language Arts PSSAs, in the top half in Math and #1 in Science. Additionally, in 2014, Rebecca supported the opening of the WCS-Awbury Campus.

Rebecca has been an educator since 1998. Prior to becoming a principal, Rebecca served as a teacher in middle school and high school English, social studies, and humanities; instructional coach; education program manager; and education consultant. During her last year teaching high school students at Mastery Charter School, students chose Rebecca as the teacher honored by the graduating class. Rebecca grew up in North Haven, Connecticut.

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