Widener Partnership Charter School Hires April Thomas as Assistant Principal

Chester, Pa.—The Widener Partnership Charter School, Pennsylvania’s first university-based charter school, has hired April Thomas of Chesterbrook, Pa. as assistant principal.

Thomas comes to Widener Partnership after serving most of the last seven years as assistant principal for school culture for Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia. During that period, she also served eight months as a turnaround assistant principal at Germantown High School.

“April has a proven record of creating a culture of academic success at Mastery Charter School,” said Widener Partnership Principal Darlene Davis. “We are excited to welcome an educator with her skills and experience to the Widener Partnership Charter School family.”

In her role at Mastery Charter Schools, Thomas was responsible for all aspects of school culture including student attendance, discipline, incentives and activities. At Widener Partnership, she will be responsible for teacher observations and evaluations, student discipline, state reporting and school culture.

Thomas holds master’s degrees in reading and educational leadership from Arcadia University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. She is certified in Pennsylvania as a principal and reading specialist and holds English certification for grades 7-12.

Widener Partnership takes a holistic approach to education that emphasizes a low student to teacher ratio, the social and emotional development of each student, a close partnership with parents and caregivers, and the inclusion of music, art, physical and health education and foreign language instruction as integral parts of the curriculum.

Because it is affiliated with Widener University, the school receives a variety of supports from the university including education faculty and students who support and enhance the instruction of classroom teachers, graduate students from social work and clinical psychology who provide a range of services to the children and their families, and the use of university facilities such as the Science Teaching Center and the Art Gallery.