Warsaw Elementary's Brittany Moore chosen as Assistant Principal Accelerator Program
From Duplin County Schools
Kenansville, NC - In January, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Belk Foundation, and the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association announced the Assistant Principal Accelerator Program, a statewide initiative to select and cultivate burgeoning assistant principals for a potential fast-track into the principalship.
According to a press release from NCDPI, North Carolina needs up to 300 highly qualified new principals each year, far more than the current supply. Shirley Prince, Executive Director of NCPAPA believes that this new leadership development program is a way to combat the shortage.
“Investing in targeted, concentrated support for our most promising assistant principals is the best and fastest way to increase our pool of leaders who are ready and equipped to successfully lead their own schools.”
This week, after a rigorous nomination and selection process, twenty-five assistant principals from across the state were chosen for the inaugural cohort and Warsaw Elementary’s Brittany Moore is among them.
Ms. Moore, who is in her third year as an assistant principal, is a 2009 graduate of Wallace Rose-Hill High School, where she received the Duplin County Schools Grow Your Own scholarship, a 2013 graduate of Guilford College where she majored in English and Education Studies, and a 2019 graduate of Grand Canyon University where she earned a Masters in Educational Administration.
Her classroom experience includes a one-year stint teaching English as a Second Language in Hefei, China, and six years teaching English Language Arts at Warsaw Middle School, now Warsaw Elementary. She describes becoming an administrator at the same school where she taught as a rewarding experience that allows her to positively influence students, teachers, and the community on a broader scale.
Ms. Moore has a six-year-old son who she says, “is a constant reminder of why I must continue to invest and pour into the youth, as they are our future”. Her major influences include family and school leaders who have all played a major role in shaping her core values as an individual and as an educator.
“It is truly an honor to represent Duplin County Schools in the AP Accelerator Program. I value learning as a process that allows individuals to expand their knowledge and opportunities. I am committed to ensuring that students are successful academically, socially, and emotionally.”
Working with NCPAPA and a team of experienced mentors, Ms. Moore and the other members of the cohort will take part in a compacted curriculum focused on research-based competencies and practices associated with successful school leadership and school transformation.
They will also receive intensive individual and group coaching from proven practitioners in the field to hasten their readiness to become effective principals. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt realizes that principal effectiveness has a critical impact on student achievement and teacher satisfaction.
“Principals are the great multipliers of excellence. We want to prioritize this group of professionals and ensure that they are supported and provided with professional development opportunities to continue growing.”
Duplin County Schools Superintendent Dr. Obasohan states, “On behalf of the Board of Education and all administrators, we are extremely proud of Ms. Moore’s selection into this innovative program. From student to teacher to school leader in our district, Ms. Moore’s influence is already felt and we are excited for her continued growth and limitless potential.”
The Assistant Principal Accelerator Program is funded by multiple partners that value and support public education in our state – the Belk Foundation, NCDPI, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the NC Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center, and the NC Alliance of School Leadership Development. NCPAPA will deliver and refine the curriculum with this first cohort of participants and hopes to expand the program to add 100 principal-ready candidates each year.
