Camille Harrelson is both the superintendent and principal of Long Lake Central School District, but most of her time is spent as a principal, she said.
Never hidden away in a distant district office, she ensures the buses arrive each morning and every student is accounted for—knowing each of them by first and last name, despite having been there just over a year.
“We definitely have the opportunity to get to know our kids and get to know the kind of rhythms they have. And you can just celebrate those things a little bit more than you do in a bigger school district because you know the students so well.”
When the school’s short-staffed, she’s sweeping the cafeteria floor. When a teacher is out sick, she’s covering a study hall. But this way of life is anything but strenuous for Harrelson, who has spent her career in suburban school districts.
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“No day is ever the same,” Harrelson said. “That’s what brought me to Long Lake—the small school and the community atmosphere and just the way
that the community really supports the students and the staff here.”
— By Brenne Sheehan
This originally ran in the Sept/Oct 2025 issue of Adirondack Explorer, as part of a story about declining school enrollment. Sign up to start your subscription with the next issue.
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Photo at top courtesy of Long Lake Central School District
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