(Summerdale, Pennsylvania – October 12, 2009) – William P. Del Collo, Jr., principal of Fort Washington Elementary School, a suburban K-5 school with approximately 500 students in the Upper Dublin School District, was selected as Pennsylvania’s 2009 elementary school National Distinguished Principal. The 2009 celebration marks the 26th year that the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the U.S. Department of Education have presented this prestigious award.

“Mr. Del Collo was nominated and selected by his fellow principals through a statewide search process conducted by the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals (PA Principals Association),” said Dr. Barbara Rudiak, chair of PA Principals Association’s NDP Selection Committee. For the first time, two principals were selected as NDPs from Pennsylvania – one from an elementary school and the other from a middle school. Jonathan Ross, a principal at Drexel Hill Middle School in the Upper Darby School District, was chosen as the NDP from a middle school. Both principals will represent our state in the National Distinguished Principal program Oct. 22-23, 2009 in Washington, D.C. One or more principals are chosen annually from the 50 states and the District of Columbia as the National Distinguished Principal.

A graduate of Millersville and Widener universities, Mr. Del Collo previously held the position of assistant principal at Barkley and Schuylkill elementary schools in the Phoenixville Area School District. He has served as principal of Fort Washington Elementary School since 2000, and has been an administrator for 10 years. This past year, Fort Washington Elementary School posted the fifth highest PSSA scores of all elementary schools across the state.

“At the helm of every successful school is a successful principal,” said Gail Connelly, NAESP’s executive director. “Our National Distinguished Principals program provides us with an opportunity to recognize the outstanding leadership of these principals and their commitment to creating successful learning communities. Because of them, students thrive academically, teachers grow professionally, and communities are strengthened.”

The National Distinguished Principals program is made possible through the corporate sponsorship of VALIC, an industry leader currently managing long-term investment programs for more than 28,000 education, healthcare, public sector and other not-for-profit and for-profit organizations in more than 41,000 locations—representing nearly two million investors throughout the country.

Criteria for selection of the principals, set by NAESP and the U.S. Department of Education, require that the honorees are active principals of schools where programs are designed to meet the academic and social needs of all students and where there are firmly established community ties with parents and local business organizations.

Mr. Del Collo is a member of both the Pennsylvania and national Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, served as the historian for the Kappa Delta Pi Executive Council and was a co-presenter at the 2008 PA Principals Association conference.

He has presented at the Pennsylvania Education Excellence Fair and had seven school initiatives honored between 2002 and 2007. He also received the Educator 500 Award from the 3e Institute for Educational Excellence and Entrepreneurship in 2004, 2005 and 2007 and his school was the recipient of a PSSA Title 1 Academic Grant for PSSA Improvement in 2004.

PA Principals Association serves as Pennsylvania’s professional educational association and represents approximately 4,000 elementary, middle level and secondary principals throughout the Commonwealth. PA Principals Association maintains close ties with the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

PA Principals Association presented the award to Mr. Del Collo at the association’s annual banquet on October 4, 2009 during its state conference (Oct. 4-6) in State College, Pa.

Call Sheri Thompson at 717-732-4999 or Kaylen Tucker (NAESP headquarters) at 703-684-3345 or Michael Pladus, School District of Upper Dublin Superintendent of Schools at
215-643-8802, for more information.

PA Principals Association’s Mission: To ensure a quality education for every child by comprehensively supporting the educational leaders of our schools.

PA Principals Association’s Vision: To be the best service organization of its kind in the United States.