Gregory M. Hodge was the
principal for over a decade at The
Frederick Douglass Academy
Frederick Douglass Academy (also known as FDA), is a co-educational public school for grades 6-12 located in West Harlem, New York City. The school offers an SAT prep course program and a variety of Advance Placement (AP) college courses that you ...
(FDA) in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, where he was noted for his tough love, "No Excuses" approach.
Early life
Hodge was raised in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
and
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. Orphaned by the age of 16, he recounts to his students a life of homelessness that puts him on a par with their own experiences of poverty.
[ After a counselor "forced" him not to leave school, he earned two Master's degrees and a doctorate.
]
Career
Hodge spent 31 years as a New York City school teacher, culminating in his 14-year tenure at FDA that began in 1995 when he replaced the founding principal, Lorraine Monroe
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain language, Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the Regions of ...
.[ He retired from FDA and teaching in general in July 2011.][
Hodge is noted for his ]tough love
Tough love is the act of treating a person sternly or harshly with the intent to help them in the long run.
Description
Bill Milliken described tough love through the expression, "I don't care how this makes you feel toward me. You may hate m ...
, "No Excuses" approach to education, enforcing strict discipline within his school of mostly lower-income students.[ He advocated personal attention to the students and personal responsibility: he greeted each student at the door every day and frequently spent nights on the couch in his office. He said: "We do everything we can to help, but we place the burden on them to get the job done." When he became principal at FDA in 1995, the student body was 80% female; he recruited boys to equalize the sexes but achievement did not decline.]
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Gregory
Educators from New York (state)
American school principals
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)