School Leader of the Year
This award honors Summit Learning and Along principals and assistant principals who rethink, reimagine, and rebuild education by passionately working together with their communities.
Our inspiring recipients
These educators impacted positive change in their communities by collaborating with enthusiasm and compassion.
2023
Catherine Hunt
K-12 Principal
Northport School District
Northport, Washington
Catherine Hunt made an immediate impact on her tight-knit community when she arrived in Spring 2020. As K-12 Principal, Catherine does whatever needs to be done each day and starts each morning by greeting all students by name as they arrive. Originally from Alabama, the mother of five leads by the motto, “Today is a good day for a good day.”
Chris Lin
Assistant Principal
Intrinsic Schools, Belmont Campus
Chicago, Illinois
After 11 years as a teacher, Chris Lin remains passionate about rolling up his sleeves and helping students with their work. But as an Assistant Principal, Chris is now able to spread his infectious love of learning throughout his community. The former tennis and robotics coach leads with a team-first mentality and brings joy by wearing costumes on spirit days and producing slideshows to celebrate colleagues.
Norma Penny
Founding Principal
Carter Lomax Middle School
Pasadena, Texas
“The world changes, and we as educators need to change with it.” Those words were said by the late Norma Penny, who inspired the Gradient Learning School Leader of the Year Award and is a posthumous recipient this inaugural year. Penny embodied the characteristics of a school leader who enthusiastically led the change in education throughout her 15 years as principal of Carter Lomax Middle School.
Celebrating school leaders in our communities
The School Leader of the Year Award
honors Summit Learning and Along principals and assistant principals who rethink, reimagine, and rebuild education by working together with their communities.
These school leaders:
- Foster a positive learning environment that empowers educators and staff to support their students
- Enable teachers to guide students to become their best selves by building ways for teachers to deeply know each student
- Enthusiastically lead the change in their communities by helping educators best serve students throughout their school journey
Inspired by Norma Penny
The Gradient Learning School Leader of the Year Award is inspired by Norma Penny, who proudly served for 15 years as the Founding Principal of Carter Lomax Middle School, a Summit Learning school in Pasadena, Texas. Penny, who passed away unexpectedly in February 2021, embodied the characteristics of a school leader who led the change in education. Under Penny’s leadership, Carter Lomax Middle School was recognized with a State of Texas Five Star Distinction Award for three consecutive school years and received the inaugural Rise Award, a national honor given out by Gradient Learning.
The world changes, and we as educators need to change with it.
Norma Penny
The nomination process
Do you know an exceptional school leader who is worthy of being recognized? Show your appreciation for a principal or assistant principal by nominating them for this award. We want to hear about those school leaders who are reimagining education and enabling teachers to guide students to become their best selves.
Nominations for the 2024 Gradient Learning School Leader of the Year Award will open in Fall 2023.
We encourage you to nominate a school leader who fits the criteria. Anyone, including parents, community members, teachers, and other school staff, may submit a nomination. We also accept self-nominations.
For questions about the award or nomination process, please email info@gradientlearning.org.