Education
- Ed.D.Doctor of Education
Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia - M.Ed.Graduate degrees
Grand Canyon University and Virginia State University - B.A.Bachelor of Arts in Sociology
Lynchburg College (University of Lynchburg)
Meet the Headmaster
Dr. Johnathan Harris
Founder and Headmaster of The Laurel School, which he and his wife, Dr. Courtney Hughes-Harris, founded together. Twenty-five years in classrooms and school leadership, and a conviction that children do their best learning when they are known.
Founder and Headmaster
A school built by educators, for families
Dr. Johnathan Harris has spent more than twenty-five years in education, in public schools and in independent schools, as a teacher, an administrator, a head of school, and a professor who now prepares the next generation of leaders. He and his wife, Dr. Courtney Hughes-Harris, together founded The Laurel School because they believed Richmond families deserved a different kind of elementary school: small, intentional, academically serious, and unhurried.
“Children do their best learning when they are known by name, when they are given time to think, and when the adults around them believe they are capable of remarkable things. That is the school we set out to build, and it is the school I walk into every morning.”
Dr. Johnathan G. Harris
His Story
From Southwest Virginia to Salem Church Road
Dr. Harris is a native of Southwest Virginia and a proud alumnus of Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and competed in track and field. He went on to earn graduate degrees from Grand Canyon University and Virginia State University, and a Doctor of Education from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.
His career has moved between public and private education by design. He has taught, led, and advised in both settings, and each one sharpened his sense of what children need from a school: teachers who know them, academics that take them seriously, and families who are treated as genuine partners rather than spectators. That last conviction became the center of his scholarship. He is a published author in academic journals on progressive education and family engagement, and he has presented at regional and national conferences on parent and family engagement in schools.
Dr. Harris also teaches. He is on the faculty of the University of Lynchburg’s Doctor of Executive Leadership program, where he guides working professionals through their doctoral research, and he is on faculty at the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. He has been a keynote speaker at Stetson University, the University of Richmond, and Lynchburg College.
He has been named to Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40, inducted into the Lynchburg College Athletics Hall of Fame for track and field, and honored by the university’s alumni board with the M. Carey Brewer Alumni Award.
Every Day on Campus
A headmaster who knows every child
At The Laurel School, Dr. Harris is not a name on a letterhead. He greets students at the door, walks the Play Forest, sits in on reading groups, and knows every child by name, including what they are reading and what they are working on. Families will find his door open and his phone answered.
Dr. Harris is married to Dr. Courtney Hughes-Harris, co-founder of The Laurel School and a member of its Board of Trustees. Their daughter, Caydence Justice Harris, is a first grader at The Laurel School, which means the Harris family holds Laurel to the same standard every Laurel family does: is this the school we would choose for our own child?
At a Glance
Education, Service, and Recognition
25+
years in public and private education, as teacher, administrator, head of school, and professor
Teaching
University of Lynchburg
Faculty, Doctor of Executive Leadership
University of Richmond
Faculty, School of Professional and Continuing Studies
Honors
Style Weekly
Top 40 Under 40
Lynchburg College Athletics Hall of Fame
Track and Field
M. Carey Brewer Alumni Award
University of Lynchburg Alumni Board
Speaking
- Keynote, Stetson University
- Keynote, University of Richmond
- Keynote, Lynchburg College
- Regional and national conferences on family and parent engagement
In Print and On Video
Recent Work
- Independent School magazine, National Association of Independent Schools, Summer 2026 Research Insights: A New Framework for Parent Engagement in Independent Schools Also available as a PDF.
- Journal of Transformative Learning, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2024) Redefining High School Education: The Journey of The Lynnhaven School in Embracing Progressive Education in the Modern Era Read the article (PDF).
- Dr. Harris on The Laurel School Watch on YouTube
Come Meet Him
Dr. Harris’s door is open
The best way to understand The Laurel School is to visit it. Inquire, join us for a visit, and let Dr. Harris show you the school he and his family chose.