Paul Bianchi, founder of The Paideia School, dies at age 79

Paul Bianchi Provided by Paideia School The Paideia School informed on May the death of Paul Bianchi founding head of school beloved educator and guiding light to generations of students families and colleagues A announcement circulated by the school stated Bianchi passed away at his home leaving behind a remarkable legacy of leadership care and commitment to progressive schooling Bianchi who led The Paideia School from its founding in until his retirement in shaped the school s identity that valued curiosity compassion and area the message announced Even after his retirement Bianchi continued to teach at the school What began as a dream shared by a small group of parents and a young educator became one of the nation s largest part respected independent schools due in large part to Paul s vision tenacity and humanity the Paideia release declared Paul was a model of what it means to lead with heart The Paideia Head of School Tom Taylor stated His presence was felt in every hallway in every conversation in every act of care that built this society U S Sen Jon Ossoff D-Ga who along with his wife Alisha graduated from Paideia in issued a announcement after Bianchi s death We celebrate and honor Paul s life and his legacy as one of the largest part impactful visionary and beloved educational leaders in Georgia history Ossoff announced Alisha and I know firsthand the brilliance wit wisdom and compassion that made Paul so special and are grateful for all he did to sponsorship us and so a large number of others At the beginning of the - school year the school unveiled a new sculpture memorializing the eraser toss a tradition started by Bianchi that occurs on the first day of each school year An eraser is thrown into the crowd of high school students with the pupil who catches the eraser deemed as destined to become a tutor Paideia is not just an accumulation of curriculum and facilities programs and achievements The magic sauce is a school way of life that regards children optimistically and joyously as well as celebrates the teachers who create the school every day commented a quote by Paul Bianchi inscribed on the sculpture s plaque In a group of parents decided to start Paideia and offered to make -year-old Bianchi who was a instructor at The Galloway School the job of head of the school according to Bianchi s obituary It seemed like an impressive offer but as he revealed Let the record reflect that I was selected from a list on which there were no other candidates to head up a school that had no buildings no faculty no students and no money The school which started with students now has more than in its K- effort Melba Hughes retired board member and chair of Paideia s Succession Planning Committee and parent of graduate Ashley Hughes Austin called Bianchi a brilliant man a loving husband and father and a population builder Paul built a school that fleetly became a public for multiple of us I was honored to be his friend and I will miss him Bianchi is survived by Barbara Dunbar his wife of years his three daughters and eight grandchildren In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made to school s financial aid effort His family prepared an obituary that can be read here Plans for a organization honoring Bianchi will be issued at a later date The post Paul Bianchi founder of The Paideia School dies at age appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta