Principal LeAndrea Ware introduces Geoff Ramsey, left, to students before having him make a morning announcement on the loudspeaker at Howard School on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ramsey, the 2018 president of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors, was one of 18 Hamilton County Schools’ Leadership HCS participants who shadowed principals at schools across the county Wednesday.LeAndrea Ware, the energetic, enthusiastic executive principal of The Howard School is one of nine finalists for Tennessee Principal of the Year.
State Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn announced the nine finalists for the 2019-20 Tennessee Principal of the Year and Supervisor of the Year awards Wednesday. The finalists represent each of the main regions in the state.
Ware, an alumna of The Howard School, represents the Southeast region. Ware was named Hamilton County’s Principal of the Year in March and was celebrated at the Opportunity Zone’s OZcars event in May.
Howard School Principal LeAndrea Ware talks on stage in the auditorium at The Howard School at the start their awards day program on Thursday, May 23, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
With billionaire tech mogul and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, right, joining her on stage, Howard School Principal LeAndrea Ware enthusiastically announces the winner of the Resilient Teacher Award in the auditorium at The Howard School during their awards day program on Thursday, May 23, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.Ware took over as interim principal of the school, one of the district’s historically struggling schools and part of the Opportunity Zone, at the end of the 2017-18 school year. She was named executive principal during the 2018-19 school year.
She returned to Howard this year to tackle some of the unique challenges that the school faces with a student body made mostly of students from communities of concentrated poverty and a growing number of English language learners.