Harold S. Henry, Jr., Principal of Frederick Elementary School, has been named Chief of Schools at the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP). Mr. Henry will begin this role on July 1, 2023. This is a new position for BCP, Maryland’s largest operator of neighborhood public charter schools, and will be a key member of BCP’s leadership team with oversight of BCP’s six neighborhood charter schools.
Harold is an experienced educational leader with a deep commitment to responding to the complexity and adaptive challenges facing schools and school systems. He began his career teaching at Northwestern Senior High School in Baltimore then transitioned to district-level work within Baltimore City Public Schools’ central office. A graduate of Hampton University, Harold holds an MA in Education Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University. He is pursuing his Ed.D. in Adult Learning & Leadership, also from Columbia University, where he has served on the adjunct faculty for the Teachers College’s Summer Principals Academy.
In July 2017, BCP, which works in partnership with City Schools, tapped him to serve as Principal of Frederick Elementary School. In this leadership role, Harold led the 2017 merger of Frederick and Samuel F.B. Morse Elementary School, two of Baltimore’s lowest-performing public schools in dire need of support and resources. With Frederick transformed into a conversion charter school for the neighborhood and absorbing Morse Elementary, Harold focused on unifying the communities and creating a thriving school culture centered on the principles of wisdom, leadership, and community.
Under his guidance, Frederick has gone from an under-performing school with declining enrollment, high suspension rates, and teacher vacancies, to a school with a growing enrollment, low suspension rates, and a record of retaining teachers, especially African American teachers.
City Schools has recognized his leadership and devotion to his students and Frederick staff and faculty with the honor of Transformational Principal for his leadership in the merger and turnaround of two underperforming schools.
I am thrilled and deeply grateful that Harold is joining the BCP leadership team. His deep and broad professional experiences are ideal for BCP leadership and his ability to analyze, strategize, and communicate a powerful vision will strengthen our organization. Harold is highly regarded by his staff, principal colleagues, and the BCP board of directors, and we enthusiastically await July 1!
