Greg Harris, Rowe Middle School Principal, has been named the 2019 Oregon Middle School Principal of the Year by the Oregon Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA) and the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA).

“Greg Harris is exactly the kind of school leader that aspiring principals want to become,” said Lincoln High School Principal and OASSA President Peyton Chapman. “He knows every student by name, plays his trumpet with the band, shoots hoops with students in the gym, and he closely monitors individual student and all school data to ensure all of his students are growing and meeting academic benchmarks.”

Harris has served as an educator in North Clackamas School District for the past seven years. In that time, he has turned Rowe Middle School into a successful, rigorous, and diverse destination school where staff, students, and guardians are proud to be. Harris’s strategies are focused around the whole child, using an equity mindset to implement innovative techniques that are results-oriented. Those results, measured by the Association for Middle Level Education, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, attendance rates, and Organizational Health Improvement scores, prove the value of a collaborative, equitable, and student-centered approach.

“Greg is an outstanding middle level leader who has built a climate of success for each student at Rowe Middle School through high student expectations coupled with academic and social-emotional supports, culturally relevant teaching practices, and by removing barriers that often impede the growth for our traditionally underserved populations.,” said North Clackamas Superintendent and 2017 National Superintendent of the Year Matt Utterback.

Greg Harris creates an atmosphere his students and staff want to be a part of. As Principal at Rowe Middle School, Harris has recruited, hired, and retained three-quarters of his staff using extraordinary hiring practices that include community members, students, and staff incorporating anti-biased, performance based evaluations that have resulted in a quality and dedicated staff. Harris knows each of his 850 students by name, welcomes everyone into the building, and participates in academic discussions in classrooms. He takes a hands-on approach to ensure every student knows he is in their corner.

Harris is dedicated to meeting the needs of his students. He has created multiple extra-curricular opportunities for students such as a STEM elective class, a live, student-led news channel, Science in the Kitchen, and an afterschool program that meets the academic, social, emotional, physical, and basic needs of hundreds of students with programs that include MESA, Boys and Girls Club, National Honor Society, and more. He also developed a unique 6th grade schedule that included 2-teacher teams, resulting in deeper relationships with teachers and peers, a sense of belonging, academic pride, greater access for all students to extracurricular activities, fewer transitions, and an overall sense of calm during this transition year into middle school.

Harris will be honored at the 2019 COSA Annual Conference in Seaside this June and at the National Association for Secondary School Principals Conference in Boston this July. He will also be honored at the High School Principals Conference in Bend this October.

About COSA and OASSA

The Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) serves and represents more than 2,300 school administrators, managers and executives.  COSA was founded in 1974 to give Oregon's education leaders a united voice in helping to shape public policy, advocate for schools and speak on behalf of students. In addition to advocacy, COSA supports and develops educational leaders with professional development opportunities -- including statewide conferences, regional seminars and workshops, and much more -- and an administrative licensure and advanced degree program. A member-driven umbrella organization, COSA is governed by an elected Board of Directors that represents the organization's four Departments: the Oregon Association of School Executives (OASE), the Oregon Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA), the Oregon Elementary School Principals Association (OESPA) and the Oregon Association of Central Office Administrators (OACOA).  For more information, visit www.cosa.k12.or.us.