Neuqua Valley High School’s Bob McBride is one of eight principals in the country to earn the 2017 Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership.
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McBride will be honored Monday during the National Blue Ribbon Schools awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.
“As a principal, my job is to get a lot of parts working together and moving in the same direction,” McBride said. “Ultimately what the Bell Award means is that as a school we did that.”
McBride is in his 10th year at the helm of the Naperville high school, with an enrollment of about 4,000 students.
Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Karen Sullivan said he’s been an “amazing leader” from the moment he stepped into the building.
“Dr. McBride has surrounded himself with a team of outstanding administrators and teacher leaders who have collaboratively worked with our great teaching and support staff,” Sullivan said.
“Under Bob’s leadership, they have remained laser-focused on improving student achievement while understanding the importance of developing well-rounded, emotionally healthy students.”
The Bell Award is presented by the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the Association for Middle Level Education and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
“It’s a privilege to honor this year’s Bell awardees and to recognize them for their achievement,” U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a news release. “Through their work, these principals show that when effective leadership is coupled with high expectations, we can expect great results for all of our nation’s students.”
Principals were selected for the award from this year’s 342 National Blue Ribbon Schools program winners.
“It feels great for our school and for the efforts of our school to be acknowledged,” McBride said. “We’ve worked very hard over the past decade; we are not a perfect school but we are a group of people who are trying to do our best every day.”
Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.