| This article is a stub. Help out this community by adding more information! |
 |
Spoiler Warning!
This article or section reveals details from the fifth season. |
Miss Harris, portrayed by Hope Hynes Love, is a minor recurring character in the fifth season of Stranger Things. She is Holly Wheeler's teacher at Hawkins Elementary School.
History[]
Miss Harris was presumably born and raised in Hawkins, Indiana. She had been a teacher at Hawkins Elementary School School since at least the late 1970s, with Robin Buckley once being a student of hers. She was known for a special assignment involving making a mandala out of colorful rocks with her students in the woods of the school.
1987[]
On November 3, Miss Harris rang the bell for recess to be over for her class. As they lined inside, Miss Harris noticed Holly Wheeler was missing. As she walked the schoolyard, she caught Holly facing the fence talking to thin air. Concerned, she spoke to Holly's mother, Karen, after school regarding it. Unbeknownst to her, Holly was talking to an entity disguising himself as an "imaginary friend" named Mr. Whatsit and would be the cause of Holly's vanishing that night.
The next day, on November 4, Harris continued to help her students around her class. When more students began to disappear, the local government began to collect the remaining children between the ages of 9-10 and place them in the zone known as the MAC-Z to keep them safe. Miss Harris chaperoned the children, comforting Debbie Miller, one of her students, and telling her that it would almost be like a field trip. Inside the MAC-Z, Miss Harris attempted to keep order inside the Quonset huts, with the children growing rowdy. She took notice of her student, Derek Turnbow, hosting a circle with his fellow classmates about "visualization", but grew concerned when Derek compared it to his mother running out of Valium as an example. Derek was secretly having his classmates sneak out underneath the base with the help of his new friends in order to keep them safe from Mr. Whatsit. When the plan goes awry, Derek, Joyce Byers, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Mary, and Glenn are escorted outside, only for a fallout to begin between the military and Mr. Whatsit, whose identity is revealed to be named Vecna. As gunshots rang out and lights flickered, Miss Harris ran throughout the hut ordering the children to hide underneath their bunk beds.
Her fate afterwards is unknown as she isn't seen again.
Personality and traits[]
Miss Harris is shown to be incredibly kind, sweet and patient with her class and children in general. She tried her best to comfort them even in intense situations. However, she is often puzzled during intense situations, as when monsters were attacking the MAC-Z she unwisely told them to get under the beds, hinting how she likely took this from normal drills at school.
Behind the scenes[]
Uniquely, Miss Harris is portrayed by Hope Hynes Love, the actress who was also the Duffer Brothers' former drama teacher. Ross Duffer has cited her as the reason they pursued their dreams, since she comforted them during their struggles in high school and gave them the confidence to move to Los Angeles to chase their careers. He added: "Shoutout to all the teachers out there making a difference. And please ... let's prioritize the arts in schools."[1]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
| Season Five appearances | ||||
| The Crawl | The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler* | The Turnbow Trap | Sorcerer | |
| Shock Jock | ||||
References
- ↑ "Miss Harris is played by Hope Hynes Love. She was our high school drama teacher. High school was rough for me and my brother. But Hope saw something in us we didn't see in ourselves — and she helped give us the confidence to not only survive those four years, but to move to LA and chase our dreams. Shoutout to all the teachers out there making a difference. And please… let's prioritize the arts in schools. ✌️" Instagram. November 28, 2025.