After 42 years in Montgomery County Public Schools, longtime educator and basketball coach Dan Harwood has retired from teaching, bringing to a close a career that impacted generations of students across the county. While he is stepping away from the classroom, Harwood says he plans to continue coaching basketball at Magruder High School for another year or two.
Harwood began his MCPS career teaching elementary physical education at Page Elementary School in Silver Spring and Greenwood Elementary School in Olney. At the same time, he was coaching the junior varsity basketball team at Paint Branch High School. “I loved teaching elementary PE,” Harwood said. “Every kid, for the most part at those ages, loved PE.”
His experience working with young children also helped shape another successful endeavor: his basketball camp, which he started 30 years ago. “I have always thought a big part of the success of camp is my experience teaching elementary school kids more so than my basketball background,” he said. “I have always hired Phys Ed teachers for my camp because they are so good working with kids.”
When reflecting on more than four decades in education, Harwood says the accomplishment he is most proud of is the energy and enthusiasm he brought to school every day.“Most days, if not close to all days, I brought the energy,” he said. “I wanted to be more than just a Phys Ed teacher.”
Over the years, Harwood used his classes as opportunities to teach life lessons alongside physical education. He regularly spoke to students about work ethic, character, and how to succeed both in school and in life. “My students might not remember anything I said, but they will remember Coach Harwood enjoyed his job,” he said.
His dedication to showing up each day was inspired by his father, a plumber who raised a family in Montgomery County and, according to Harwood, “never missed a day” of work. Harwood recalls arriving at school on crutches after severely injuring his calf muscle while playing tennis, drawing concern from colleagues who thought he should have stayed home.
“I said, ‘My dad wouldn’t let me,’” Harwood recalled. Though his father had passed away decades earlier, Harwood said the lessons he taught about responsibility, perseverance, and treating people well remained with him every day. “If you have a work ethic and treat people the right way, you have a great chance of having a successful life,” he said.
Harwood spent much of his coaching career leading varsity basketball programs at Seneca Valley High School and, for the past 36 years, Magruder High School. Remaining in one community for so long allowed him to watch generations of students grow up, while his own four children graduated from Magruder. “Being at the same school for so long and living in the Magruder community has been a blessing,” he said.
Today, many of his former students and players are teachers and coaches themselves within MCPS. One of the most important lessons Harwood says he learned during his career came from the students and athletes he worked with. “You must believe in yourself,” he said. “It is so much easier to have a work ethic and make the right decisions and stay away from life’s distractions that can get you sidetracked.”
He also emphasized the importance of structure and discipline, noting that discipline is often misunderstood as punishment when it is really about teaching, helping, and preventing problems before they occur.
As he looks toward retirement from teaching, Harwood remains grateful for the relationships that defined his career. “When I started out, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be a teacher,” he said. “I just liked basketball and wanted to coach.”
What began as a path toward coaching eventually became a lifelong career in education, one that Harwood says gave him far more than he ever expected. “I never dreamed or thought of making a difference in someone’s life when I was much younger,” he said. “But somehow, someway, you realize you are making a difference, whether you like it or not.”
As for the impact he hopes he leaves behind, Harwood remains characteristically humble.“I hope I made a positive difference for some,” he said. “I do know I tried to help others but, in reality, the students and players helped me much more than I helped them. They gave me a purpose in life.”
