Running Brook Elementary Principal Wins Top Honor in HoCo for 2017: HCPSS

COLUMBIA, MD — Principal Troy Todd has been named the 2017 Howard County Principal of the Year, school system officials announced.

Todd has led Running Brook Elementary School since 2008 and served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal in his more than 20-year career with the Howard County Public School System.

Teachers, students, former students, parents, administrators or members of the general public were invited to submit nominations.

Todd exhibits "dedication and caring for our school’s children, staff and community," Running Brook math support teacher Kristen Mangus said in a statement of support for her principal's nomination, noting he takes time to build relationships with people.

Specifically, Todd was recognized for his work with the "Elementary School Model," a program in which eight Howard County schools — including Running Brook — reorganized learning, from how subjects were grouped to when world languages were introduced. All students at Running Brook, for example, begin Spanish in prekindergarten. The school also introduced telehealth so students don't miss school due to sickness, and it rolled out a full-day prekindergarten program to prepare kids for kindergarten.

Also nominated for Principal of the Year were Waverly Elementary School Principal Kathy Jacobs, Wilde Lake High School Principal James LeMon, St. Johns Lane Elementary School Principal Vicky Sarro and Karl Schindler, Applications and Research Laboratory.

Having earned the Howard County recognition, Principal Todd will now be proceed into the Washington Post Principal of the Year contest.

Photo courtesy of the Howard County Public School System.