Laurie Barron, who led a turnaround effort at Smokey Road Middle School in Newnan, Ga., has been named the 2013 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year.
In 2004, when Ms. Barron became the fourth principal to run the school in five years, she set out to address widespread discipline issues, high absenteeism, and low student achievement, according to the announcement last week from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, in Reston, Va., and the MetLife Foundation, in New York City.
Under her leadership, the high-poverty middle school reached federal achievement goals for the past six years and was named a 2011 MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough School for student-achievement gains.
