PC pre-K parents L-R: Roger and Dana Band, Katie and Fredrick Plaza, Sozi and Meriel Tulante, Pamela and Richard Vail, Katie and Doug Jordan.
“I was a bad kid,” Tulante said. “Not a troubled kid, a bad kid. I got in fights, wasn’t interested in school.” After a particularly bad episode where his attempt to run away from home was thwarted by a police officer who brought him home, Tulante’s father arranged a transfer to another school and made him promise to go to school every day. “A math teacher at Russell Conwell Middle Magnet opened my eyes and helped me realize I was good at something. I didn’t miss a day, nor was late – through snowstorms and SEPTA strikes – from seventh through 12th grades.” Tulante volunteered at the college counseling office and devised an impressive wish list of schools. “Once accepted, I asked my father if I should choose Yale, Princeton, Penn or Harvard. He said Harvard because it was the only one that people in Africa would recognize,” Tulante recalled. He graduated in 1997 and was recognized with a John Harvard Scholarship. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law in 2001. When Sozi and his wife, Meriel, moved to Philadelphia from Boston, she urged Sozi to learn to swim – and that led him to Penn Charter and swimming lessons with the Penn Charter Aquatics Club. Sozi and Meriel enrolled their children at Penn Charter because of the school’s values and inclusivity. “The spirit of William Penn is at Penn Charter. The spirit of Philadelphia as a sanctuary, and as a place you can be free, is found at Penn Charter. Second, Penn
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Charter creates opportunities for economically diverse families, and that’s important,” he said. Tulante also noted two other more personal factors in the decision: Meriel is a professor at Philadelphia University, just across the street, and their friend, Lower School counselor Lisa Reedich, spoke highly of the school. As city solicitor, Tulante advises the mayor, commissions and the City Council and represents the city in lawsuits. He said he spent his first four weeks meeting with his 200-person staff to learn what works and what does not, rather than announcing his own ideas. Tulante plans to improve the diversity in the city solicitor’s office and seek ways his office can have more of a voice in public policy, by writing more amicus briefs. Tulante said he has hope for the city, even when things seem bleak, and encouraged the school to remain active as an advocate for all Philadelphians. “In thinking about hope for Philadelphia, I want to leverage Philadelphia’s resources. Penn Charter can do a lot. Maintain Penn Charter’s commitment to the city. Continue to draw a mixture of the city’s diverse population. Keep students in touch with the city and its rich history of immigration.” Sozi and his wife, Meriel, are parents to Kiese, Class of 2027, Sengele, Class of 2029, and Zolana, a toddler. “My kids think I’m at a birthday party!” Tulante said of his Night at the Museum. PC