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1/ Phillip Perry was the leader who was expected to help a troubled Waco middle school finally soar.

After he died of COVID-19 complications, grief-stricken staff and students have been forced to find ways to process his death.
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2/ G.W. Carver Middle School serves mostly low-income, black and Hispanic students and scored an F in last year's state ratings.

But under Perry, “there was a feeling from staff that Carver was moving in the right direction," said a Waco nonprofit CEO.
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3/ "He encouraged them to do better, to be better," said a parent of a child at Carver.

"He was like, 'We're down at the bottom right now, but we're going to start working on this and working on that."
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4/ Perry went to great lengths to get parents more involved in their children's education, including hosting barbecues and giving away TVs.
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5/ In the days after Perry's death, a memorial appeared with stuffed animals, flowers and the words "[Rest in Heaven] Mr Perry," written in chalk.

But, the chalk has since washed away and the plush creatures and flowers are messily piled up.
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6/6 Perry’s funeral should have had hundreds of people, but many made the decision to avoid the event due to the pandemic.

While only family and close friends saw him buried, students and teachers still mourned from afar.

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