FLEMING ISLAND – It was a night of announcements for the last school board meeting of the year including Assistant Principal and Principal of the Year and the top 10 teachers of the year.

Traditionally the final school board meeting of the year is light on content, and for good reason: it’s one of the lowest-attended meetings by the public of the year. Still the meeting had some exciting announcements for educators as Superintendent Addison Davis announced some of the most prestigious awards of the year.

“Usually we go really in-depth about our objectives and our accomplishments and our next steps instructionally and where we’re going culturally, but tonight is a night to ... to talk about the principal and (assistant principal) of the year,” Davis said. “We’ll also talk about the top 10 semifinalists of the year which is new for us. We’ve got some great educators, and this is a moment to acknowledge them.”

The Principal of the Year award went to Nancy Crowder of Shadowlawn Elementary. Davis said she had the highest score on the insight survey and the highest gains overall last year on state accountability tests. He attributed some of her success to her background in counseling before becoming a principal.

“Prior to becoming leadership, she was a school counselor and it truly shows through her interaction with staff,” Davis said. “Her ability to galvanize her community and show empathetic understanding of what you go through as an educator and support professional (is important). She has the ability to hire individuals who understand the mission of our school district and she is our 2019-2020 Principal of the Year.”

Oakleaf High Assistant Principal Matt Boyack won Assistant of the Year.

“He’s courageous,” Davis said. “When we talk about professional learning, he rolls his sleeves up and he’s in the middle of it driving the work. He understands standards and shifts in the work, how to look at analytics to make informed decisions in the classroom and he’s truly remarkable in his ability to lead.”

Boyack won Teacher of the Year in 2014 for the Clay County School District. Neither Boyack nor Crowder could be present for the meeting.

Davis announced the top 10 teachers of the year, which will be narrowed down to one in the coming months, following his announcement of principal and assistant principal of the year.

Those teachers are as follows: Victoria Tompkins (Bannerman Learning Center), Allyson Lewans (Clay Hill Elementary), Erin Colon (Discovery Oaks Elementary), Kristen Fulenwider (Lake Asbury Junior High), Lindsay Burghart (Middleburg High School), Amy Ahrens (Oakleaf High School), Tracy Pfuntner (Orange Park Elementary), Brett Pikurity (Orange Park High School), Jordan Rackersfeldt (S. Bryan Jennings Elementary) and Tiara Coffee (Swimming Pen Creek Elementary).

In other business, Davis announced the CCSD Art in the Capitol winner and it was Raeleigh Trawick of Coppergate School of the Arts. Art in the Capitol is a statewide visual arts competition that requires each school district to hold an annual art competition for all students in grades sixth through eighth. As a winner, Trawick’s art will be on display in the Capitol Complex.