Virginia-Highland Elementary

Mr. Terry Harness joined Atlanta Public Schools as the principal of Springdale Park Elementary in 2016.  Originally from South Carolina, Mr. Harness attended the University of South Carolina & the College of Charleston. Mr. Harness began his career as a teacher in Florence, South Carolina in 2000, moving on to become an assistant principal at the high school level and then a world language curriculum coordinator for Fulton County Schools in Atlanta. Mr. Harness has served as an elementary and middle school assistant principal in the Sandy Springs community, and he has been a member of the Superintendent’s Principal Advisory Council and the Georgia Department of Education Fine Arts Advisory Council. Mr. Harness is currently serving on the Midtown Cluster Advisory Team, School Leaders of Color Collective and SSF Budget Advisory Taskforce for the district. In 2022, Mr. Harness was recognized as a Cahn Fellows Distinguished Principal. 

Under the leadership of Mr. Harness, Springdale Park Elementary has been recognized with the Gold Award from the state of Georgia for Highest Performance on the Georgia Milestones Assessment. Springdale Park is a No Place for Hate School as well as a Green Ribbon school and was recently awarded STEM Certification. 

Mr. Harness is excited about being the inaugural principal of Virginia-Highland Elementary School! Mr. Harness resides in the Midtown community and looks forward to seeing students and families in and out of school.