Dr. Judy Walton

Dr. Judy Walton leads Harrison Community Schools with a teacher's heart. A former lawyer turned educator, she champions student voice, AI readiness, and lifelong literacy across the district.

Good district leadership starts in the classroom, believes Dr. Judy Walton, superintendent of Harrison Community Schools. She believes one cannot be a good superintendent without spending time teaching, calling it the closest touchpoint to students. She herself spent ten years in the classroom, gaining a firsthand understanding of the daily realities teachers and students face. That takeaway remains her guiding force as superintendent today.

Dr. Walton’s entry into education, however, came as an awakening. She practiced law for roughly 12 years, and despite enjoying the work, she sensed she was meant to be doing something different. That realization took her from the courtroom to the classroom, and she has approached education with excitement and enthusiasm ever since.

Centering Student Voice

A throughline of Dr. Walton's leadership has been her advocacy for student voice, an interest that goes back to her doctoral dissertation on the subject.

“Too many times, our students are not at the table when we're making decisions about them,” says Dr. Walton.

At Harrison Community Schools, that commitment shapes decisions. Dr. Walton has added a non-voting student to the district board. After the previous dress code proved discriminatory against female students, the district revised it to be gender neutral, with students playing an essential role in the process. She also regularly meets with students, describing them as one of the district's greatest resources whose insights are rarely incorporated.

Preparing Classrooms for the Future

Dr. Walton is focused on preparing Harrison's teachers for how education is evolving, a priority that shows up clearly in both her approach to AI and her expanded literacy initiatives.

“ Too many times, our students are not at the table when we're making decisions about them. “

About a year ago, the district formed an AI task force of teachers and administrators, who worked with educators and students across the region. The board has since adopted AI use guidelines, supported by a four-year plan to gradually guide how students and staff use the technology.

This year, Dr. Walton’s focus is on helping teachers use AI thoughtfully, not to replace them but to help them spend more time connecting with their students. Starting next year, the district plans to introduce requirements to ensure students gain the AI experience they will need for the future.

Dr. Walton's literacy work reflects the same future-focused thinking, driven by her belief that literacy will continue to be hugely important. That is why the district doesn't limit its programs to the early K-5 grades, as many schools do. Instead, Harrison treats literacy as a pre-K-12 priority, extending it through middle and high school.

Hornet Team Time is one such district initiative that aims to create lifelong readers out of students. Now in its third year, the program gives middle and high school students daily choice reading time, built on the idea that students shouldn't stop being readers once they leave elementary school.

Leadership Grounded in Fundamentals

Even as superintendent, Dr. Walton remains grounded in her identity as an educator. For her, teaching and learning are top priorities. She often describes herself as a social studies teacher masquerading as a superintendent, a reason why she spends the majority of her time in the school buildings.

Her commitment to the district community is also strong. She serves as its chief messenger and biggest cheerleader, and steps in personally when problems arise. When mistakes happen, Dr. Walton admits the wrong and works to make it right.

That grounded approach also informs the advice Dr. Walton offers other education leaders. She believes leaders should not chase after the next bright object. Instead, they should rely on research, understand teachers’ and students’ needs and build toward students' capacity for the future. Dr. Walton’s own approach to AI and literacy is an example of that balance, where schools should prepare students for the future without losing sight of the fundamentals.

It's this combination of empathy, student voice and measured innovation that has earned her a place among the Top 10 School Superintendents in Michigan 2026.