Music in the Halls
The Heart and Heartbreak of Teach- ing at a High-Poverty School in Washington, DC

I devoured this in a day. It is a hard listen, but some of these kiddos mentioned are my kiddos, too. I taught at this elementary school’s feeder middle school from 2014-2023, and with this being the stories from 2011-2015, some of these stories overlap with mine. Our students deserve so much more f......more

I usually get hesitant to read accounts of white people going into POC spaces due to my personal distaste for white savior narratives. However, decided to give this a try and ended up reading it all in one sitting. A detail I liked was that Mr. J wasn’t self pitying in his reflection on himself as a......more

This book should be mandatory reading for anyone setting policy that impacts K-12 schools. It is unconscionable what takes place at this school—and others I am sure—where administrators place test scores over the underlying challenges that need to be addressed in order for children to obtain a quali......more

This is so well written. You have a caring teacher who goes to high poverty school and does an amazing job......more

I highly recommend this insightful, educational, and thoughtful book about our public education system as seen by a gifted and inspirational teacher. I also recommend that you buy extra copies to share with others. As a Nation, we need to find ways to solve the problems with the system. It is heartb......more