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Kahrs named National Middle School Principal of Year Writer: Michael Childs, 706/542-5889, mdchilds@uga.edu Contact: Sheila Kahrs, 678/963-0602, skahrs@barrow.k12.ga.us
Kahrs chats with students at Haymon-Morris Middle School in Winder. Photo by Tricia Spalding/Athens Banner-Herald
Sheila Kahrs, principal of Haymon-Morris Middle School in Winder and an alumna of the University of Georgia College of Education, has been named 2010 Middle School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
“Sheila Kahrs is an exceptional principal who has helped the students of Haymon-Morris Middle School make tremendous strides in increasing achievement,” said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox at a surprise assembly at the school to announce the honor. “She’s a leader who uses data to make informed decisions and empowers her teachers to be leaders so they are motivated to get the most out of students.”
Kahrs (EdD ’92), who became principal of the new Haymon-Morris Middle School in 2005, bases her work on a nonnegotiable philosophy that is “values driven and data informed” and a model of shared leadership to ensure that philosophy remains in focus. For Kahrs, success begins with bringing the right people on board, then involving them in every important decision in the school. She relies heavily on teacher leadership to assist in the selection and development of new teachers, prompting teachers to constantly ask “how can we do this better?”
She also brought a belief that every student deserves a quality education, regardless of socioeconomic background. Over half of the school’s students receive free- or reduced-price lunch and the school has a high transient population. However, despite those considerable challenges, Haymon-Morris is consistently high-performing. The school regularly leads other middle schools in Barrow County in standardized test results, and produces scores in the top tier for the state.
“You can teach the child, but he will do nothing if he doesn’t think you care about him personally, care about his success and believe he can succeed,” Kahrs said.
Not surprisingly, staff members who have worked under Kahrs’ guidance have developed their own leadership capacity, with two former assistant principals now running their own schools and numerous other assistant principals and teacher leaders enrolled in leadership development programs. “As I have been mentored and supported,” Kahrs said, “I try to do the same for others.”
Kahrs designed the school-wide leadership team around grade-level coordinators, which provided an ideal structure for “vertical teaming” (in which teachers in the middle school work closely with teachers in elementary school and high school to set common expectations), a formal structure for common planning, common benchmark assessments, and communication throughout the school. To allow all the necessary collaboration to take place, teachers are ensured 90 minutes of common planning time each day and are required to meet daily as a team, meet with parents as a team, and structure all exams together so students have a common assessment in each subject per grade level.
“We have a mantra in this school, and it comes from a book by the author Richard DuFour," Kahrs told the Athens Banner-Herald. “’Whatever it Takes’ – that's what we live by. It’s not just about homework and instruction. We must go as many steps as as it takes for our students to learn.”
Kahrs won the state award in May and traveled to Washington, D.C., for an interview with judges. The panel cited Kahrs' collaborative style as an administrator as one of the main reasons she deserved to win the national award.
Kahrs was one of two COE alumni who were finalists for a national recognition as principal. Steven Miletto (EdD '09), principal of R. L. Osborne High School in Marietta, was one of three finalists for the National High School Principal of the Year.
Kahrs will be honored at an awards banquet Oct. 16 in Washington, where she will receive a $3,500 grant. As one of six finalists, she also won a $1,500 grant.
Kahrs received her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from UGA, where she studied under now retired COE professors Edith Grimley and Ray Bruce, who helped bring national recognition to the program from 1967-91.
Kahrs has worked in school administration in Barrow County for the last 11 years of a 20-year career in education.
Her husband, James Kahrs, who also received a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from UGA, was named National High School Principal of the Year in 2001 for his work at Shiloh High School in Snellville.
Sheila and James Kahrs were also the first non-professors inducted into the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervisors.
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