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Mark Harris patrols the halls of Ferndale Middle School, exchanging special greetings with smiling students: a raised right hand, palm turned forward, then twisted side to side.

"We wave and salute at the same time," Harris explains.

That fits. Harris lives two roles simultaneously: friendly educator and battle-tested ex-Marine. The blend just might produce the ideal principal.

I first met Harris about a decade ago just down the street at High Point Central High School. He'd retired after 24 years in the Marine Corps, where he'd reached the rank of first sergeant, and was looking for something else to do. He took a position as Marine Junior ROTC instructor.

The funny thing was, Harris once couldn't wait to get out of high school and into the Corps. He dropped out, enlisted and turned 17 in boot camp. Only when the Corps decided it no longer wanted Marines without a high school education did Harris earn a diploma - on a base high school in Iceland, of all places. "By then I knew if you were going to get anywhere, you had to have an education," he says.

Harris' military career took him all over the world, including hot spots like Iraq during the first Persian Gulf War and the West African nations of Liberia and Sierra Leone during bloody insurrections. In peaceful times, he began taking college courses. He also discovered a knack for teaching, serving at times as a drill and marksmanship instructor at Parris Island and teaching at the amphibious reconnaissance school at Coronado, Calif.

He taught leadership skills to fellow Marine NCOs and found some of them were lacking in basic literacy. His task was to teach "people who were very prideful how to read and better themselves."

Harris was a late reader himself. In sixth grade, he met a teacher who told him, "You're going to learn to read this year and enjoy it." She made it happen, and now his goal is to do the same for Ferndale students.

Ferndale was a terrific school when my kids attended in the 1990s, with strong leadership and fine teachers. Its student population was as racially and culturally diverse as any school's, and its academics were outstanding. It sent students to statewide competitions and drew energetic parent participation. Sadly, much of that was lost over the years.

Now, says Harris, the goal is to make Ferndale a "showcase school" once again. The faculty is improving, and some students are returning from private schools.

"We're trying to build trust with the community," Harris says.

He arrived from a three-year assignment as principal at Murphey Traditional Academy in Greensboro -- his first top job after completing a master's at UNCG during his Central days, then serving as an administrative intern and assistant principal there.

Murphey met all of its Adequate Yearly Progress goals for 2007-08, earned a School of Progress/High Growth designation and saw its overall reading scores reach 90 percent -- higher than the state average.

Reading is first priority at Ferndale, where more than 120 students are enrolled in intensive reading classes. At the same time, the school's pre-International Baccalaureate program is raising expectations for all students.

Keys to success are atmosphere and attitudes. "We want to create an environment where people can learn," Harris says. "In the military it's a command climate. Here it's a school climate."

Ferndale has implemented standard mode of dress this year, and basics begin with respect -- not fear or intimidation. "Leading through intimidation has never been successful. It creates animosity and distrust." Students deserve "the freedom to learn, risk-free," Harris says.

His military experience seems to blend seamlessly with his mission at Ferndale.

"One of the things we do well in the Marine Corps is take an average guy and make him feel he can do anything," Harris says. "They give you the training to believe you can be the best. ... Students have to have it, too. They have to have an attitude of success."

Teachers as well. As he would if he were leading men into combat, the former first sergeant stresses training, preparation, collaboration and communication.

"If you're going to raise student achievement, you can leave no instruction to chance," he says.

Ferndale looked safe and orderly the morning I visited, as nicely dressed students and first-sergeant principal saluted/waved respectfully.

The kids are there to learn, and with Marine Corps values, they've got a good chance.