Dr. Douglas Strobel

Dr. Douglas Strobel has served as principal of Stephen Decatur Elementary School since 2022, bringing over 14 years of experience in education to his leadership. Under his leadership, Stephen Decatur has demonstrated measurable academic and operational growth. Math PSSA scores increased by 10.5% over three school years. Student attendance improved by nearly 12% and teacher attendance improved by over 5% over the same three school years.

Dr. Strobel’s career in education began with City Year Philadelphia, where he facilitated after-school programs and tutored students in small groups. It is there that he developed an understanding of the importance and inequitable nature of student opportunities and the impact an individual can have on a student’s life. That passion led to his involvement in Playworks, an AmeriCorps program supporting organized recess with an emphasis on movement and social-emotional learning. He then joined the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows program and began teaching in January 2011 as an eighth-grade ELA teacher at John Barry School. He has also served in roles including emotional support teacher and special education case manager before becoming the assistant principal at Solis-Cohen Elementary School in 2017.

Dr. Strobel is from Merrill, Wisconsin.