In The Press

Follow Henry Gradillas in the press.

Here are some published articles written about Henry Gradillas or his book Standing and Delivering.

Well-Known Educator Inspires Duluth Students

Thursday, 02 June 2011 13:47 |

From: WDIO Eyewitness News Website
Originally published 5:21 PM ET, 05/20/2011.
View the article on the WDIO Eyewitnesss News website.

Dr. Henry Gradillas spoke to a group of seniors in a spanish class at Lakeview today. Gradillas was a former educator in California. He talked at length about what it was like to grow up in East LA as a Latino, his experience in the military, and his roles as an educator and administrator. He left student with one clear message.

"I want to impress on you one thing," says Gradillas. "Education is a continuing thing. It doesn't stop just because you got a degree or a credential. It's not the end of it. It's the beginning."

Gradillas is well-known for being the principal at the school dramatized in the movie "Stand and Deliver." He is also the co-author of a book by that same name.

Here is a link to Dr. Gradilla's website: http://www.henrygradillas.com/a/j/

Surprising truths from superstar principal

Friday, 03 December 2010 05:30 |

By Jay Mathews, The Washington Post
Originally published 5:30 AM ET, 12/ 3/2010.
View the article on The Washington Post website.

Henry Gradillas was the principal of Garfield High School in the 1980s when the chairman of its math department, a Bolivian immigrant named Jaime Escalante, became the most famous teacher in the United States.Escalante, about whom I wrote a book, was an amazing educator, but he would never have gained such renown and become the subject of the film "Stand and Deliver" if it had not been for Gradillas.

I have never seen in action an urban high school principal as good as Gradillas [pronounced gra-DEE-us] was. His example influences everything I (and a lot of other people) think about how to make schools better.

So when Gradillas told me he was going to write his own book of advice for school leaders, I encouraged him, although I feared that 25 years after the peak of his career many of his views would be out of date. He is still a vigorous man, with a handsome crop of white hair. He still works as a tutor and substitute teacher in Wisconsin. But much of the jargon and many of the issues have changed since his time in Los Angeles. I feared that at age 76 he would sound like an old coot rather than the vibrant and clever administrator I remembered.

Why urban schools don't need gifted programs

Sunday, 12 September 2010 08:00 |

By Jay Mathews, The Washington Post
Originally published 8:00 AM ET, 12/ 9/2010.
View the article on The Washington Post website.

D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson told me recently that a plan to hire a gifted-and-talented coordinator had been cut from her budget. Times are tough, she said. Sacrifices have to be made.

But I don’t think this is any great loss at all. God dispenses his blessings and talents to poor and minority kids, too, so our cities have many gifted children. Unfortunately public schools, including those in the suburbs, rarely have the resources or teaching expertise to challenge them much. For urban schools, the standard gifted and talented system is often a waste of time.

I was reminded of this in a new book by the best inner-city high school principal I have ever known. Henry Gradillas, who ran two large high schools in Los Angeles, including Garfield in low-income East L.A., figured this out nearly 30 years ago. He had listened to his most talented teacher, Garfield Math Department Chairman Jaime Escalante, make fun of designating some kids gifted on the strength of a second-grade intelligence test. Gradillas began to see why Escalante (later made famous by the film “Stand and Deliver”) was right.