Harvey Perkins

Harvey Perkins has spent 32 years working in public education at every level — as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, building principal, and assistant superintendent — giving him a ground-level understanding of what school improvement actually requires versus what reform plans assume.

Three Decades of School Transformation Experience

Perkins has led building and district-wide reform in both suburban and urban school districts and has spent more than 15 years teaching educational administration at George Washington University, specializing in curriculum development and leadership training. For two decades he has consulted on school improvement initiatives across Virginia and nationally, earning certifications from Phi Delta Kappa, the Southern Regional Education Board, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Research-Based Strategies for Measurable Results

His primary focus is building distributed leadership networks that increase student achievement in high-stakes environments. He is certified as a curriculum auditor, a trainer in SREB’s Leadership Initiative, and an assessor and mentor/coach trainer through NASSP’s 21st Century Principal program. His practical, research-grounded approach gives education leaders frameworks they can implement immediately rather than theories that evaporate after the conference ends.

Harvey Perkins’s keynote presentations help teachers, principals, and district leaders build the capacity to create high-performance learning cultures and achieve measurable gains in student outcomes.

Teaching Your Buffaloes to Fly: Leading Your Organization in Turbulent Times

Do you sometimes question why you got into this educational leadership business in the first place? Do you ever feel like all of your hard work is for naught and is not appreciated? Does the new era of accountability have you and your staff reeling? What you need is to slow down, step back, and get your perspective in line with reality. People are depending on you to provide the vision for the desired future for your organization and you cannot do that from a defensive position. This session will delve into the critical issues of leadership that are required of the principal and senior staff of any organization if it is to successfully navigate the turbulent waters of the 21st century.

Don’t Confuse Your School Improvement Plan with School Improvement!

“Is your school improvement plan a vehicle for faculty dialogue around best practices and the means of cultural and instructional renewal in your school?” OR “Is it an annual chore that allows you to put another check in the box of the bureaucracy and move on with business as usual?” If we are to create a continuous improvement culture in our schools, the planning process must be data-driven, inclusive of all stakeholders, and tenaciously monitored for fidelity of implementation. This workshop will give you the tools to create meaningful change in your building!

7 Tips to Thrive, Not Merely Survive, in the Principalship:

“Survivor” has captured the imagination of our culture and its penchant for reality TV. Ordinary men and women facing extraordinary challenges, both natural and man-made, with one goal: to survive. While this makes for wonderful television, it makes for lousy life and career management. Is it possible to be a school administrator and find a satisfying balance in life? It is not only possible, it is critical. We don’t offer a cookbook here or a seven step recovery model for workaholics. We simply offer some strategies that we have found effective for adding joy back to a principal’s life, both in and out of school. Approach this list as you would a buffet, choosing items which appeal to you and leaving others, but for your long term health, eat here often.

Distributed Accountability: The Key to Optimal School Leadership

The heart of any professional learning community is a commitment to distributed accountability. We cannot stretch all of the students to high levels of academic achievement unless we have all of the adults in the building pursuing a common mission and vision. Easier said than done! Unfortunately, “victimitis” is a cultural disease that is still far too prevalent in many schools. This workshop will focus on some strategies for fostering the healthy discussion of beliefs and values among our staffs and offer some ideas for moving these beliefs from concept to reality.

It’s a Wonderful Life: Lesson’s in Servant Leadership

The work of an educator today can be tiring, exasperating, and too often, just thankless! This session will provide the renewal that is so desperately needed in your staff members to enable them to re-enter the educational game with the desire and vitality that made them become educators in the first place!