Announcing Heather Gerrard as a National Finalist for Assistant Principal of the Year
Heather Gerrard has worked in education since 2005. She earned a Bachelor’s of Teaching in
History, English and English Language Learner Instruction, and a Masters in Educational
Administration. Her professional experiences also include facilitating adult instruction to Utah
educators for adopting the Common Core in English, ELL endorsements and ELA accreditation
courses. She coordinated bringing the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) Program to
Ogden High School in 2013 and worked as the AP and IB coordinator, growing both
programs, and earning Ogden High a spot on the AP Honor Roll for high schools for increasing
the amount of minority students taking AP classes and exams. Her passion for education
revolves around closing the achievement gap through college and career readiness programs
and supports. Heather’s leadership has fostered a focus toward increasing student participation
in these programs by more than 50%, while ensuring that teachers were able to support their at
risk and diverse students in these programs for more sustainable growth. These efforts have
supported an increase in Ogden High’s graduation rate to over 95%. At the same time OHS
increased their ACT composite and rigorous course participation increased to 87.9% with an
increase in pathway completion and pass rates. She was also teacher of the year for The Utah
Council of Teachers of English for 2013. She is currently serving as an Assistant Principal at
Ogden High School in Utah for the last five years.
