From Vietnam Combat Duty To The Classroom: Honoring Dr. Roger Harris At The March 3rd Black History Breakfast

Roger Harris was born and raised in the Roxbury section of Boston, attended the Boston Public Schools, served three years of active duty with the United States Marine Corps, including a thirteen month tour of duty with a combat unit in Vietnam.  He was a football standout at Boston University, where he earned “Most Valuable Backfield Player” and a Bachelors Degree. He received a Masters Degree from the University of Massachusetts (formerly Boston State College), a Doctor of Philosophy Degree from Boston College, and is a member of the LeadBoston class of ‘97. 

Dr. Harris has devoted 41 years working with youth in Boston’s public schools. He has recently retired as Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer of the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School, and has been elected to serve as President of the Renaissance Foundation. Dr. Harris is the founder and president of Urban School Specialists, LLC. He is the Executive Producer of The Positive Youth Project and It Takes A Village educational series aired on Boston Neighborhood Network television. 

Dr. Harris has served as 2nd Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association and Vice President of the Boston Charter School Alliance. He is the former Principal of the two-time National Blue Ribbon Award winning Timilty Middle School in Boston. He is a co-founder of the award-winning Roxbury Preparatory Charter School of Boston. Dr. Harris has worked in charter and traditional Boston public high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools as a classroom teacher, athletic coach, mentor, dean, assistant headmaster, and principal, earning national and international recognition as an outstanding urban educator. 

Dr. Harris is Assistant Professor of Practice at the Boston University School of Education (his alma mater) and has recently been appointed Faculty Director, of BU’s K-12 Education Leadership and Policy Studies department. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the Boston College Lynch School of Education, Curry College, in Milton, Massachusetts, and has taught as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has served for over ten years as a mentor principal to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has been the recipient of numerous civic and community awards, including the Boston University School of Education’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the Massachusetts Principal of the Year Award, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Distinguished Principal Award, and the President’s Award from the NAACP, Boston.

Dr. Harris travels extensively to China, serving as a delegate to the Chinese Bridge to American Schools Program, and has developed partnerships and exchange programs with Chinese Universities and K-12 schools.  
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He is married to Cheryl Watson-Harris, Brooklyn South Borough Director, New York City Public Schools.

The Black History Month Breakfast will be held on Thursday March 3, 2016 at the Boston Colonnade Hotel from 8:30 am to 11:00 am.​

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