Harris Road
Middle School
Bands
ABOUT HARRIS ROAD BANDS
Our History
Harris Road Middle school opened its doors on August 4, 2002, with 780 students, 56 certified staff members, and 35 support staff. Since it's grand opening, HRMS has continued to grow and has become an example of outstanding academic success.
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Currently, Harris Road serves 1500 students and remains one of the highest performing middle schools in the state and #1 in growth in Cabarrus County. In 2016, Harris Road was named a Global Ready School and in 2017 it was named Model School.
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The Harris Road Band program consists of three bands: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced, and serves on average 400 students. Each band performs in concert a minimum of two times a year and travels to at least one competition. Our belief is that all students should be provided the opportunity to learn a musical instrument if they have a desire to do so. We are not an audition-based band, but rather, we accept all and teach all. There is a high level of standards and expectations within our program. We believe in not only teaching music, but in teaching leadership, dedication, perseverance, and spirit; in essence, we believe in developing the whole student. There has been a long and continuous tradition of excellence within the band program since the school’s inception in 2002 bringing home Superior ratings and first place rankings every year. This is a tradition we will continue to uphold.
Our Philosophy
Accept them all and teach them all. We believe that anybody can learn to play a musical instrument and with the right support, hard work, and determination, they can be successful.
Meet the Directors
Leah Pfeiffer
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Mrs. Pfeiffer is in her 12th year teaching middle school band in NC. This is her fifth year at Harris Road having previously taught at Corriher-Lipe middle school in the Rowan-Salisbury School System where she grew the program by over 200% and earned the school's first super ratings in over 35 years.
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Mrs. Pfeiffer is a graduate of Elon University with a Bachelor of Science in K-12 Music Education. Her primary instrument is trumpet and Euphonium and she continues to perform professionally as much as possible, as well as participate as a guest clinician throughout NC, and as a marching band adjudicator as well. Mrs. Pfeiffer was named Teacher of the Year in 2017 and is the 2018 recipient of the ASBDA Edgar Q. Rooker Encore Award.
Mrs. Pfeiffer is a resident of the Cabarrus county community and is married with two sons, Nolan (7) and Graham (4), and has a plot hound named Sammy, and two cats, Issa and Roy.
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Amelia Coger
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Ms. Coger is in her 2nd year of teaching at Harris Road Middle School. During her time in college, she worked at Hickory High School and Marvin Ridge High School helping both band programs grow their marching band and concert band programs. She still works closely with Marvin Ridge High School during the marching band season.
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Ms. Coger is a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne University and has her Bachelor of Music in Music Education. She is currently pursuing her Masters Degree from Lenoir-Rhyne University and will recieve her Master of Arts in Teaching in December of 2022. Her primary instrument is trumpet but has a passion for all musical instruments.
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Ms. Coger lives in the Cabarrus County area with her partner, Andrew, who is also a band director, and their two dogs, Arlo and Lily and two cats, Josie and Jax.