Joyce B. Harrison, longtime teacher, innovative principal, and celebrated assistant superintendent, has died at 81
She spent 32 years in the School District of Philadelphia, and a former colleague said: “Whether on the beach in Freeport or in the board room, Joyce Harrison was a class act.”
Joyce B. Harrison, 81, of Wynnefield, longtime teacher, former innovative principal at West Philadelphia High School, retired assistant superintendent for senior high schools for the School District of Philadelphia, mentor to many, and volunteer, died Thursday, April 11, of respiratory failure at her home.
A lifelong Philadelphian, Mrs. Harrison earned degrees from Roxborough High School and Pennsylvania State and Temple Universities, and returned to the School District of Philadelphia in 1964 for a celebrated 32-year career as an education luminary. She taught elementary school for nearly a decade, offered innovative initiatives to improve West Philadelphia High School as principal, and navigated many thorny issues as assistant superintendent.
“This giant of a woman was an intelligent, articulate, and compassionate champion for the students of Philadelphia,” a friend said in an online tribute.
Mrs. Harrison became principal at West Philadelphia in the summer of 1990 and immediately changed the school’s culture. She reworked the curriculum and disciplinary code, installed hall monitors, cracked down on truancy, started a parent-teacher association, engaged with neighborhood leaders, and printed a monthly newsletter to connect students and adults.
By January 1991, The Inquirer reported, student attendance had more than doubled, and Carolyn Smiley, then vice president of the school’s parent-teacher association, said Mrs. Harrison “has a positive effect on everyone around her. She inspires us all to pull with her to make a definite change.”
It wasn’t easy, Mrs. Harrison said. “I went through a phase of wondering, ‘Am I going to fail?’” she told The Inquirer in September 1990, one month into her tenure. “That lasted about a week. Then I sat down and said, ‘Joyce, somebody thinks you can do this, and you’ve never failed at a task the school district has given you.’”
As principal, Mrs. Harrison was known for walking the halls at West Philadelphia and greeting students and teachers between classes. She kept a jar of butterscotch and chocolate candies in her office on the second floor.
In a recent online tribute, colleagues called her “a visionary leader” and said she had a “no-nonsense approach to educational leadership” and “commitment to excellence.” Community leader Hannah Mouzon told The Inquirer in 1991: “The students can’t help but feel the warmth and motivation around her.”
She was principal at Dimner Beeber and Clarence E. Pickett Middle Schools in the 1980s, and earlier taught third grade at John Wister Elementary School and sixth grade at Pickett. She oversaw high school matters and mentored other teachers and administrators while working in the superintendent’s office in the 1980s and ‘90s.
The school district recognized her with its 1994 Marcus A. Foster Memorial Award for “administrator excellence,” and she retired in 1996. In an autobiographical profile, Mrs. Harrison said she “worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for all children in her care. Joyce continued to maintain high expectations for herself and others.”
She won other leadership and service awards, and was active on boards and with civic and academic organizations. She joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1962 and was a member of the Penn State Alumni Association.
“She had a presence about her,” said her godson, Greg Berry. “She had the respect of the community and her students.”
Joyce Brown was born Feb. 27, 1943, in Philadelphia. She grew up with her younger sister, Linda, and attended Galilee Baptist Church in Roxborough.
She graduated from Roxborough High in 1960 and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Penn State and master’s degree in educational administration at Temple. She married Joseph R. Harrison Sr. in 1975, and they lived in Wynnefield, and she welcomed his family into her life.
Mrs. Harrison enjoyed gardening, and she grew vegetables and kept her home filled with flowers and plants. She was a welcoming neighbor and said in her autobiographical profile: “Their home and pool became a source of much fun for family and friends, especially the neighborhood children affectionately known as the Golf Road Gang.” Some of the children called her Aunt Joyce.
She was an engaging conversationalist and hosted memorable Super Bowl parties. She and her husband loved the ocean and beach, and they traveled often to what she called her “getaway home” on Grand Bahama island. Her husband died in 2002.
Mrs. Harrison was elegant and friendly, and a leader at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia and the Pro-Cathedral of Christ the King church in Freeport, Grand Bahama. A friend said in a tribute: “She was a kind soul and treated each person with dignity and love.”
In addition to her sister, Mrs. Harrison is survived by other relatives.
Services were held on Tuesday, April 30.
Donations in her name may be made to the Jesse Anderson Scholarship Fund at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, 6361 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19151.