Danbury Principal Earns National School Leadership Award

DANBURY, CT — South Street School principal Carmen Vargas-Guevara was one of 10 principals named recently as recipients of the 2020 Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership. The principals were selected from the 2020 cohort of National Blue Ribbon Schools.

The educators will be honored by the U.S. Department of Education at a virtual awards ceremony on Nov. 12.

"Excellent learning environments are led by excellent leaders—those willing to think innovatively and creatively about how best to serve students and support teachers," said U.S. Education spokeswoman Betsy DeVos. "I’m honored to, once again this year, recognize the talented principals who are this year’s Bell Award winners. They are the ones leading needed transformation at the most local level and are committed to student success.”

The award, named for the second U.S. Secretary of Education, Terrel H. Bell, is part of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Principals are nominated by their school communities during the final stages of the NBRS application process.

South Street School is one of 367 schools nationwide to earn the distinction for 2020. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.