Morrise Harbour

Morrise Harbour developed and launched Liberty Grove Schools, a K-6 school which is built on student-centered, innovative instruction, instructional staff support and development, and operational excellence. Liberty Grove Schools was approved by Indianapolis Public Schools to be the new Innovation Partner for Elder Diggs School 42 starting in July, 2022.

Harbour has more than 20 years of experience in education and has consistently demonstrated his commitment to the art of teaching, learning, and engaging in results-driven collaboration. He first served as a math teacher in New York City and Maryland before becoming an Assistant Principal in 2007 for Washington DC Public Schools. In 2008, he became Assistant Principal at Friendship Public Charter Schools’ Chamberlain Campus and went on to become Chamberlain Campus’ Principal in 2011.

Under Harbour’s leadership, the Chamberlain Campus achieved and maintained a Tier 1 status every year since 2012. That year, the Chamberlain Campus was recognized by the DC Public Charter School Board as “one of the top-performing public charter schools in mathematics for grades 3-8” and as “one of the most improved public charter schools in mathematics for grades 3-8.” The DC Public Charter School Board further detailed Chamberlain’s success by highlighting that Chamberlain was one of only four Tier 1 charter schools in DC that “saw double-digit gains in ELA and Math for economically disadvantaged or at-risk students.” They stated, “African American students at Friendship Chamberlain made impressive gains in student proficiency, increasing by 6.7 percentage points on ELA and 14.4 percentage points on Math, while at-risk students improved by 14 percentage points in Math.” Harbour’s commitment to student achievement and teacher training was the catalyst for this impressive growth.

He has attained a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Sacred Heart University, a Master’s degree in Education and School Building Leadership from Saint John’s University, and a Master’s degree in Executive Leadership from Georgetown University. Harbour currently holds a license in Administration and Supervision for Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grades and has served as a panelist on the Middle States Commission for Elementary and Middle School Accreditation.

In 2008, Harbour received Saint John’s University’s award for School Building Leadership, awarded to the graduate student with the most outstanding achievements in the Education Leadership program. Other accomplishments include being awarded Friendship Public Charter School’s CEO award (2017) for his exceptional efforts in raising student achievement and retaining highly effective teachers at the Chamberlain Campus. He was a board member of the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools, now named the DC Charter School Alliance, an advocacy group focused on equality for all Charter Schools.