New McIntosh Middle Principle Is Phoenix Academy Director

Harriet Moore, the current program director of , will be the new .

She will succeed David Jones, who has been named the new principal of North Port High School. Her appointment is expected to be approved at an upcoming meeting of the School Board of Sarasota County and will be effective July 1.

Moore has served as the program director at Phoenix Academy since July 2011.

The academy is a Sarasota County public school that helps refocus students in grades eighth through 10 who have struggled academically in traditional school settings.

At Phoenix, Moore continued the school’s tradition of cultivating talent in students to help them find their way in school. She cited significant grants the school’s teachers received for art and science projects, the school’s ongoing collaborations with and the Sarasota Film Festival that help students develop writing skills, and Phoenix Academy ninth-grade student Rachael Tuffland’s creation of “Chicken Comb-Over,” a painting that received the Best of Show Award at the Education Foundation’s Evening of Excellence in February.

“It has been an awesome year at Phoenix Academy,” said Moore. “I have grown significantly as an instructional leader and the experience led to the opportunity to become the principal of McIntosh Middle. I plan to continue the wonderful programs already in place at the school and I hope to lead the students and staff to even greater heights.”      

Before leading Phoenix Academy, Moore was at for four years. As an assistant principal she helped secure the school’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS/CASI).

She worked closely with Principal Linda Nook to help guide the transition of the Cyesis Teen Parent Program from being a self-contained school to becoming a department of Riverview; led the Creative Arts Small Learning Community; administered the English for Speakers of Other Languages program; coordinated the school’s Performance-Based Diploma Program; and served on the Positive Behavior Response Intervention Team, a program to promote and reward constructive student conduct.                  

She served an assistant principal at Manatee High (2006-07) and Palmetto High (2004-06).

In the late 1990s and early 2000s she served in various capacities with the Richard Milburn Academy Charter Schools of Florida and worked for the Manatee County School District as a program specialist for charter and contracted schools. Since 2007 Moore has been an adjunct professor of Education and Psychology at Argosy University in Sarasota. 

She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Argosy, a master’s in Education Administration and Supervision from National-Louis University in Tampa and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education from Georgia State University in Atlanta.