Award to a Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC Principal of Grades PreK-12 for Outstanding Work in Education

The Washington Post Principal of the Year Award

Agency

Foundation

GrantWatch ID#

182577

Funding Source

The Washington Post

Geographic Focus

USA: Maryland: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties.; Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and Staff ord counties; Alexandria, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park cities.; Washington, DC

Important Dates

Deadline: 01/30/23 11:59 PM ET - Receipt for finalist materials. Nomination deadlines are set by the individual school systems.

Grant Description

Award of $7,500 to a Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC principal in eligible locations to acknowledge outstanding contributions to PreK-12 education. Nominations must be submitted to the local school system prior to the deadline. The award is intended to recognize those principals who go beyond the day-to-day demands of their position to create an exceptional educational environment. In presenting this award, The Washington Post hopes to encourage excellence in school leadership and to contribute in a substantive way to the improvement of education in the Washington metropolitan area.

Nominees must be principals in an accredited school in one of the following jurisdictions:

District of Columbia
Maryland: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, and St. Mary’s counties.
Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford counties; Alexandria, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park cities.

Since 1983, The Washington Post has been recognizing principals who go beyond the day-to-day demands of their position to create an exceptional educational environment. The Principal of the Year Award aims to encourage excellence in school leadership and inspire positive organizational improvements in educational systems in the Washington metropolitan area.

Nominees must be principals who demonstrate:

Leadership Excellence: Earns the respect of their staff and students, inspires excellence and creatvitiy, and provides an innovative vision for the future of the school
Collaboration: Establishes meaningful relationships throughout the educational system and community, and fosters a collaborative school culture that emphasizes working together within the common framework of strong educational values.
Listening: Maintains a continuous and open dialogue with students and parents as well as faculty and staff, and considers a variety of feedback and ideas when making decisions.
Lifelong Learning: Keeps abreast of developments in the field of education
Support: Continues to play an active role in the classroom, the lunchroom, the hallway, at morning drop-off and afternoon dismissal. Creates an environment in which staff and students can flourish and grow.

Recipient

Eligibility

Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)

Additional Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible, nominees must:
- Be full-time principals in grades pre-kindergarten through 12
- Have a minimum of five (5) years’ experience as a principal, three (3) of which must be in the school or school system in which he or she is currently serving
- Be serving as a principal for the 2022-23 school year
- Work in an accredited school in one of the eligible jurisdictions

Pre-Application Information

Important Dates:
- Call for Nominations: Wednesday, October 12, 2022
- Nominations Due: Deadlines are set by the individual school system.
- Finalist Materials Due: Monday, January 30, 2023 by 11:59 p.m.EST
- Winner Notified: Friday, March 10, 2023: Under embargo until official winner announcement in April
- Winner Announced: Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Nomination deadlines are set by the individual school system.

Principal nominations must first be submitted to the local school system. Each participating school system will receive and screen nominations and will select one finalist from each eligible jurisdiction, in accordance with the criteria and nomination process.

Nominations may be submitted by teachers, students, former students, parents, administrators, or the general public. Principals may not nominate themselves.

Please contact your respective school system for submission details:
- Public Schools: Contact your local school superintendent's office.
- District of Columbia Public Charter Schools: Contact the Public Charter School Board
- Private Schools: An independent committee of educators and community leaders will screen nominations and make the final selection of a finalist from the private schools.

Number of Grants

The annual awards recognize one Principal of the Year winner and one finalist from each of the participating local school systems in the DC metro area.

Estimated Size of Grant

In addition to earning tremendous respect and prestige as the Washington area's best principal, The Principal of the Year
winner will receive:
- A signature trophy
- A $7,500 monetary award
- A feature spot in a 1/2 page ad that runs in The Washington Post newspaper
- A profile in The Washington Post and on washingtonpost.com

All finalists will receive a signed certificate of appreciation from The Washington Post.

Contact Information

Step 1: Complete Finalist Information Sheet via Google Forms: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdfLluVzXF2KFdB5nAH73fP2Pfai7jtaVRHRaZNhc8IPUroOw/viewform

Step 2: Email portrait and nomination packet PDF using the required file naming convention to: community@washpost.com

For further information, please contact:
The Washington Post
Community Relations Department
202.334.7969
community@washpost.com

Award to a Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC Principal of Grades PreK-12 for Outstanding Work in Education

The Washington Post Principal of the Year Award

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