A principal who included wraparound services in her school to address the needs of students in poverty and another who turned around a struggling school on the brink of state takeover were among the eight principals who were named as winners of this year’s Terrel H. Bell Award for outstanding school leadership.
“Through their work, these principals show that when effective leadership is coupled with high expectations, we can expect great results for all of our nation’s students,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in making the announcement on Wednesday.
The 2017 winners are:
- Sophie Lee of Sunset Elementary School, San Francisco, Calif.;
- Robert McBride of Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Ill.;
- Kristen Hughes of White Street School, Springfield, Mass.;
- Glenda Lynn McFadden of Nashua Catholic Regional High School, Nashua, N.H.;
- Michael Fiorello of Berkeley Avenue Elementary School, Westwood, N.J.;
- Ursula Annio of P.S. 748 Brooklyn School for Global Scholars, Brooklyn, N.Y.;
- Paul Covey of Valle Verde Early College High School, El Paso, Tex.; and
- Jo-Ellen M. Connolly of Collier Primary School, Colliers, W.V.
The award is named after Terrel H. Bell, who served as education commissioner under President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford and education secretary in the first term of the Regan administration. It’s a joint effort by the education department, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Association for Middle-Level Education.
The winners will be honored during the Blue Ribbon Schools award ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 6.
Additional information on the winners can be found here.