October is National Principals Month, and these 43 principals are being recognized as 2025’s National Distinguished Principals.
The award is given out annually by the National Association of Elementary School Principals in recognition of public and private school principals who make significant contributions to their schools and communities.
This year, the organization is celebrating 36 elementary, five middle-level and two pre-K12 principals who “exemplify resilience and leadership well beyond the status quo,” said NAESP Executive Director L. Earl Franks.
Below is the full list of 2025’s NAESP National Distinguished Principals:
- Stan B. Stokley, Ed.D., Alabama
- Diane Crockett, Alaska
- Marianne Lucas Lescher, Ph.D., Arizona
- Julie Hatchel, Ed.D., California
- Michelle J. Rubidoux-Wilson, Colorado
- Bryan E. Kerachsky, Connecticut
- Joan Allison Booth, Ed.D., Delaware
- Donna L. Kelley, Ed.D., Florida
- Gavin A. Tsue, Hawaii
- Jennifer E. Gomez, Ed.S., Idaho
- Sonia E. Ruiz, Illinois
- Jayme L. Braida, Iowa
- Susan J. Grey, Kansas
- Sarah Y. Williams, Ed.S., Kentucky
- Monya Thomas Criddle, Ph.D., Louisiana
- Christina M. Boursaw, Ed.D., Maine
- Ryan Daniel, Ed.D., Maryland
- Brenda Kelley, Ed.S., Massachusetts
- David A. Cherry, Michigan
- Ashley L. Farrington, Minnesota
- Fannie D. Green, Ed.D., Mississippi
- Amanda R. Spight, Missouri
- Jamie Courville, Montana
- Cathy Cooper, Nebraska
- Jennifer L. Black, Nevada
- Brittany R. Rhoades, New Mexico
- Matthew T. Wentworth, Ed.D., New York
- Donna Lawson Bledsoe, North Carolina
- Jenell M. Bear, North Dakota
- Daniel Kaffar, North Dakota
- Kasandra D. Nelson, Ed.D., Oklahoma
- Matt E. Miller, Ed.D., Pennsylvania
- Cheryl Bernardo Vaughn, Rhode Island
- Jay M. Swatek, South Dakota
- Patrick L. Certion, Ed.S., Tennessee
- Frederick J. Hewitt III, Ed.D., Tennessee
- Andra J. Penny, Ph.D., Texas
- Timothy J. Pead, Utah
- Scott Blood, Vermont
- Alyse L. Zeffiro, Virginia
- Cathi A. Davis, Washington
- Samuel L. Karns, Wisconsin
- Andrea E. Gilbertson, Wyoming
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