Turning data into success in the classroom Dimitres Pantelidis

“Giving everyone clear expectations allows us all to work together to achieve success.”

by Mary newman

Despite the urgency for many Manhattan parents to get their children into a top-tier private school, one New York native has found incredible success through public education.

Dimitres Pantelidis attended public school in Queens, before earning both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Hunter College.

As an extremely determined young man, Pantelidis was a double major in college and made the Dean’s list each semester, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in both elementary education, and human communication.

He’s currently the principal at P.S. 171 in East Harlem, where he has been able to successfully prepare students for standardize testing and creative a nurturing environment for his teachers.

Issues like the Common Core and increased standardized testing have frustrated educators across the country for years. But Principal Pantelidis knew he had to start approaching things differently from his colleagues. After being named principal of P.S. 171 more than a dozen years ago, he began to use his analytical skills to look at different areas of the school that needed the most attention.

Almost immediately, he noticed that there wasn’t enough communication between administrators and teachers. He started training newly hired teachers more intensely, allowing him to both build trust and voice the high expectations he has of his staff.

As education began stressing the importance of standardized testing, he wanted to prepare his students by giving them clear objectives. Throughout his tenure, Pantelidis has relied heavily on data analysis of each student throughout the school year.

“Our main focus here is to provide clarity for both our staff and our students. Giving everyone clear expectations allows us all to work together to achieve success, “ he said. The entire school is run like a, efficient machine; dozens of posters line the walls with the most recent data collected from each classroom.

Pantelidis meets with his teachers in weekly staff meetings, as well as in one-on-one meetings to get updates on how each student is progressing. “I can’t do my job if I don’t know what’s going on in the classrooms,” Pantelidis said.” “Communication with my staff is one of the most important parts of our success as a school.”

Success has followed Pantelidis throughout his career, specifically with his work at P.S. 171. In the 2012-2013 school year, his students scored in the top 83rd percentile in all of New York State. In math, the school scored 19% higher than the state average, and 20% higher than the city average.

Pantelidis has also created many academic partnerships, creating an impressive science program with Mt. Sinai, and an opportunity for students to take summer classes and workshops at Yale, Vassar, and Princeton University.

“We talk about perseverance a lot here, and ultimately it’s all about how we can support our students,” he said. While walking through the hallways with Principal Pantelidis, it becomes obvious he simply just wants every child to succeed. Not one student walks by him without a high five, or specific question regarding what is happening in their life.

Much of his success is supported by the amount of funding P.S. 171 is given each year through various grants and donations. Many public schools struggle to educate on increasingly tight budgets, so Pantelidis and his team worked to raise more than $4.5 million dollars in grant money since 2008. He has put that money to good use by updating computer labs, encouraging field trips, and building brand new science labs for the middle school students. “The students get excited when we update the classrooms,” he said. “It motivates them and gives them a fighting chance to do well in their academics.”