Chris Plunkett

Chris Plunkett (TPP 2007) teaches art at Orchard Gardens, a BPS  K-8 school in Roxbury, and was featured on a NBC News broadcast about the turnaround at the school.

Orchard Gardens was among the lowest performing schools in the state. The turnaround began in 2010 when the new principal, Andrew Bott, fired the security guards and used the money saved to hire arts teachers.  The arts have  driven the school’s turnaround. Orchard Gardens is a President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities Turnaround: Arts Awardee, one of eight in the nation.