Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year Program
About the Award
The Wells Fargo Principal of the Year Award was introduced in 1984 to recognize the role of the principal in establishing an environment conducive to the pursuit and achievement of academic excellence in North Carolina’s schools. This Foundation sponsors the award in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Since the inception of the program, there have been 40 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principals of the Year, 264 regional award recipients, and 3,364 local Wells Fargo Principals of the Year. The Principal of the Year Program recognizes principals at the local, regional, and statewide levels.
The local process begins with each school system selecting one principal as its local Wells Fargo Principal of the Year. The selection process at the local level is the responsibility of the local superintendent or designee. The person chosen as the local Wells Fargo Principal of the Year represents his or her school system in the regional selection process. The regional selection process includes an evaluation of the candidate through a portfolio review and an interview. Eight regional finalists participate in the state selection process. The state selection process continues with each regional finalist being interviewed and his/her portfolio reviewed by a state selection committee.
The Wells Fargo Principal of the Year serves as the North Carolina ambassador for the state’s approximately 2,500 principals. The NC Principal of the Year will serve in an advisory capacity to the State Board of Education for a two-year term and serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Public School Forum.
This selection process is facilitated in each region by NCDPI’s Educator Recognition Coordinator.
More Information About the Award
Wells Fargo NC Principal of the Year
2024 NC Principal of the Year, Beckie Spears
- 9 years of administrative experience
- Meredith College (BA)
- Appalachian State University (MSA)
- National Board Certified Teacher
- North Carolina Teaching Fellow
- Participant in NCPAPA Distinguished Leadership in Practice
- National ESEA Distinguished Schools Award
“Adults learn best when professional learning is self-directed, relevant to their goals, supported by feedback and encouragement, delivered flexibly and combined with collaboration with peers. My greatest joy from the past five years was seeing our teachers complete LETRS, use their skills to improve outcomes for all kids and celebrate exceeding growth in reading.”
Thank you to our Sponsors
Wells Fargo is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company that has 266 stores and more than 36,500 team members in North Carolina. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all of its customers’ financial needs and to help them succeed financially through its banking, commercial real estate lending, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services.
Wells Fargo is honored to sponsor the North Carolina Principal of the Year Program and to support educational initiatives in communities across the state. This past year in North Carolina, Wells Fargo provided more than $24.6 million to nonprofits and schools. These contributions were channeled into areas such as neighborhood revitalization, education, mortgage counseling, small business development, human services and financial literacy. Team members volunteered more than 230,550 hours. Visit a Wells Fargo branch today or wellsfargo.com to learn more about the company.
Wells Fargo and you — together we’ll go far.
