Parents had their first meet and greet with Rosalyn Rice-Harris, the leading candidate to fill the shoes of outgoing Jefferson-Houston K-8 School principal Kimberley Graves, on Tuesday afternoon. 
    
[I want to] create the schools I would want my daughter to attend, Rice-Harris said, speaking with a handful of parents in the Cameron Street schools library. We will really work with the community on having them trust us again with their children.
    
Rice-Harris serves as an associate principal at George Washington Middle School. She was an elementary school principal and assistant principal in Washington before coming to Alexandria. 
    
Officials invited parents  to community meetings Tuesday and Thursday evening to discuss Rice-Harris candidacy as well as other changes at the struggling K-8 school. Based on the T.C. Williams model, Jefferson-Houston will add a business administrator, freeing the principal up to focus on education, officials said.
    
They hope to make a decision for principal by the weeks end.