A new face is on campus at Homewood High School for the 2024-25 school year. With his 15 years of educational experience and fluency in foreign language, Marcus Harris is prepared to take his position as assistant principal.
Harris earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a concentration in Spanish from Jacksonville State University along with a master’s degree in instructional leadership from the University of Montevallo. He even earned his high school’s award for the top Spanish-speaking student.
He first started teaching in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as a long-term substitute teacher spending a semester there. He came back to Alabama and spent seven years at Oxford Middle and High School teaching Spanish while also coaching track and field. He then went to Clay-Chalkville High School for a year before going to Bumpus Middle School to teach Spanish. After Bumpus, he spent two years at Calera Middle School as their assistant principal before earning his position at Homewood High School.
Harris recalls that he wasn’t the most outgoing student. He hopes to use his past experiences to make students feel like they matter.
“My biggest thing is that I want to make every student feel like they have a voice and that they can be heard,” Harris said. “That’s my passion, to help students reach their maximum potential.”
HHS Principal Joel Henneke helped interview multiple strong candidates for the job. What stood out to Henneke about Harris was his background and how he approached the interview, setting him apart from the rest of the applicant pool.
“He basically interviewed us,” Henneke said. “He did his homework and research on us and came into the interview showing huge interest in the assistant principal role here. I feel like that made the hire a much easier decision.”
Henneke also recognizes how Harris fills the gap of what the administrative team was missing. He was impressed by Harris’ success in Spanish and believed it could be a factor to help the school dynamic.
“It definitely benefits our students and our community,” Henneke said. “The ability to have a multilingual administrator is very key for good communication.”
For Harris, however, the main pull in his decision to work at HCS is the community.
“It’s a phenomenal place to raise a family,” Harris said, who has a wife, two kids and two pets. “From the businesses and people outside of school to the faculty and students inside the school system, it makes you feel welcome. It’s definitely a huge reason for my decision.”
Harris has brought a lot to the table during his 15 years of experience and hopes to use that to make a difference at Homewood for years to come.
