'Shocked, excited, happy': Atlantic Coast High principal named Florida's principal of year

Bringing an accolade to Duval County, Atlantic Coast High School Principal Michael George has been named Florida’s principal of the year, state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.’s office said Monday.

“School leadership plays a pivotal role in the success and future of our students, teachers and state,” Diaz said in an announcement singling out George and others for exceptional performance.

A two-decade veteran educator, George said he took the recognition on behalf of his school’s staff and students and the community around them.

“I’m shocked. I’m excited. I’m happy,” he’d said in comments late last week, when the state recognition was first shared with people at his A-graded school, where 95.3% of students graduated as of last year.

The former social studies teacher and basketball coach who ran a high school in New Orleans before moving to Jacksonville was named Duval County’s top principal in November, putting his name up for consideration for the statewide honor.

School district administrators noted steps he had taken to encourage student achievement, including opening Advanced Placement classes to ninth-graders and putting systems in place that encourage success.

Superintendent Dana Kriznar called George “a true servant leader,” saying in the school district’s social media that “he thinks about his students and his teachers first. And that’s why you see him as Florida principal of the year.”