Janice Nichols Harper ’87

Janice Nichols Harper ’87, of Lithonia, Ga., formerly of Brooklyn, N.Y.; July 31. She earned two master’s degrees from Columbia University Teacher’s College and began her career as an elementary education teacher in Brooklyn. She then founded Harper Education Support Services, an educational consulting business that provided innovative comprehensive services to public and private schools, and community-based organizations in areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, to improve the learning outcome of students. Over the course of her career she launched an alliance with Spelman College to prepare students as service leaders for a community literacy project; organized and implemented individualized reading and math curricula for students with diverse learning needs; designed and implemented multicultural reading and after-school programs for diverse urban primary and secondary students; and performed staff development trainings to support best practices in curriculum design. Her passion for education included both national and international speaking and teaching engagements, including two trips to South Africa, where she was a delegate in the People to People Program and then a presenter at the International Literacy Association conference. She received numerous awards throughout her lifetime. She was active with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Literacy Association, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is survived by her husband, Darren ’80; a daughter; two sons; five grandchildren; three brothers; two brothers-in-law; her mother-in-law; and several nieces and nephews.