Anthony Glenn Madry (born May 21, 1967) is a public school educator who has worked on all three (3) levels of the public education system and the charter system spending the majority of his 20 plus year career focusing on the at-risk students of secondary education. He started his career as a long-term substitute teacher, working his way through different disciplines including band, finally finding his niche of special education where he began to understand each child’s challenge to learn and achieve. The quote, “Each child is given a package… It is up to us when he or she opens it”, drives him to address each child individually, examining their needs equally to assess their needs with equity.
Early years
editMadry was born in Clarksville, Tennessee and grew up in Houston, Texas, where he attended elementary, junior high and high school (Houston Independent School District).
Education
editMadry attended Texas Southern University receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunications/Communication with a minor of Music. His next stop was Prairie View A & M University where he received his Master of Education Administration degree.
Professionally
editAs an administrator, Madry has served as a Special Education Facilitator, Test Coordinator, Assistant Principal, Principal and Central Office Administrator. “A true leader develops leaders!”
Currently certified as in the state of Texas and Missouri in the areas of Special Education and Principalship. He has worked with students with special which came naturally to Madry where he used his experiences with his uncle (Willie Clay Thomas) who probably would have been diagnosed with intellectual developmental disorder by today’s definitions and standards. He was also a member of a handicapped Boy Scout Troop where many of the members had handicaps such as muscular dystrophy, scoliosis, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and Scout Master who was blind. His affection for this group didn’t end there… His senior project in college a public service announcement addressing the needs of the blind at Texas Southern University.
His work in the alternative educational setting with 100% of the student population being categorized as special education developed his understanding of the need to address the individual student’s needs. This is an area that Madry believes is needed in urban educational settings. The areas of Crisis Intervention (CIT), Response To Intervention (RTI) and an Individual Education Profile (IEP) for all students are some of the concepts he has mastered as a turnaround school principal.
Madry is the Principal of Central High School in the Kansas City Public Schools System. Central is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River and once upon a time was considered one of the most dominant schools in the Kansas City area.
In recent years, Central’s reputation and status in the community took a turn for the worst and diminished into the shadows of other schools and communities in the area. Going into the 2016 school year, Central was considered to be the worst high school in the Kansas City area and possibly one of the worst in the state of Missouri. In June of 2016, Madry was assigned as Principal of Central Academy of Excellence. From then to the present the school has grown by leaps and bounds. This growth can be measured by a growing student population with successful academic programs, athletic teams, and growing graduation rate. Additionally, extra-curricular activities such as band, choir, dance and cheer are growing with a growing number of students going to college to participate in these programs (on scholarship).
Principal Madry continues to work with the faculty / staff, community members and clergy to continue the push for higher academic achieve to produce strong civic minded citizens.
September 11, 2019, Madry released an excerpt of his book "The Educational 911 - Tactics and Tools to Turnaround a School"