Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green has finally announced who will take the reins of the Providence Public Schools in the wake of the Johns Hopkins report and subsequent state takeover. His name is Harrison Peters and he comes to Little Rhody by way of Florida.
Infante-Green didn’t sugarcoat the challenges that await Mr. Peters when she said “we know that the Providence school system is broken; the data is undeniable.” She called the challenges in our capital city’s schools “significant and complex.” And she expressed confidence in Harrison Peters as a leader who “gets it.”
Peters shared that he understands what it’s like to be both a student and an educator in a struggling school system—he says that education made all the difference in his life.
Peters is a US Navy veteran, former teacher, principal, deputy superintendent and chief of schools. His work in education has taken him from Chicago, to Houston to the greater Tampa area in Florida. In his Twitter bio he calls himself a “lucky husband” and “proud father of 2 boys.”
He starts the job in Providence Feb. 20th.
Welcome to Rhode Island, Mr. Peters. We know the job is massive —we are rooting for you.