Terry B. Grier, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Terry B. Grier, Ed.D., became the Houston Independent School District’s superintendent of schools after a unanimous vote of approval by the district’s Board of Education in September 2009.

Before coming to Houston, Dr. Grier served as the superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District for eighteen months and superintendent of the Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina for almost eight years.

While in San Diego, Dr. Grier led a school system that saw student test scores improve dramatically in a year when the district budget was cut by $200 million, opened Southern California's first virtual online high school, increased the number of Advanced Placement exams taken by minority high-school students by 12.5 percent, passed a $2.1-billion school construction/renovation bond package with 69 percent voter approval, and improved student performance on the California Standards Tests to an all-time district high, with scores rising more in one year than in the three previous years combined.

Under his leadership, Guilford County cut dropout rates in half, more than doubled the college scholarships available to high-school seniors, tripled minority-student enrollment in Advanced Placement classes, and increased the high-school graduation rate to 80 percent.

Dr. Grier is especially well-regarded for his work in reducing high-school dropout rates with innovative programs for at-risk students. Among them are special schools that boast classes of no more than 15 students and evening schools for working students. These successful programs have been implemented by several other North Carolina school districts.

Dr. Grier has received numerous awards in recognition of his accomplished leadership, including the North Carolina Association of School Administrators and the North Carolina School Boards Association’s 2008 North Carolina Superintendent of the Year Award, the American Association of School Administrators' Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award, the North Carolina Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Distinguished Educator Award, and the Congressional Black Caucus’s ET3 Tech Champion Award.

Dr. Grier earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from East Carolina University and his doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University.

Contacting the Superintendent