Rocky Ridge principal 1 of 3 Alabama finalists for national designation
Dil Uswatte, the principal at Rocky Ridge Elementary School, has been selected as one of three finalists to become the National Distinguished Principal for the state of Alabama in 2020.
The National Association of Elementary School Principals each year chooses one principal from each state as a National Distinguished Principal.
Uswatte said she is “blown away” that she was named a finalist, especially so early in her career. Educators must have served as a principal for at least five years before becoming eligible for consideration, and Uswatte just completed her fifth year as a principal.
Before that, she served four years as an assistant principal at Rocky Ridge and taught math and science at the middle and high school levels. She has been an educator for 24 years in total.
When she taught math at Berry Middle School in 2009, she received the National Milken Educator Award, which often is described as the equivalent of an Oscar award in the film industry. Since then, she initiated a mentoring program for Milken award winners from Alabama to help them mentor other promising teachers in their districts.
She also initiated and co-directs the National Milken Mentor program in which veteran Milken award winners support new recipients, and she will be featured in an upcoming documentary focusing on education and the “American dream” at the Center for Advancing the American Dream scheduled to open in Washington, D.C., around 2022.
For the past four years, the Milken Foundation has invited Uswatte to give presentations at the foundation’s annual national forum, speaking on topics such as pursuing a doctorate, excellence in math education and the value of mentoring.
Her passion for math and science — and for children — prompted her to partner with other educators to start a Girls Engaged in Math and Science program for Hoover schools. The program now includes an annual expo with hands-on learning activities that draws close to 300 girls ages 5-13 across the district.
Under Uswatte’s leadership, Rocky Ridge Elementary last year achieved national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) accreditation from the AdvancEd organization, now known as Cognia. The accreditation certifies that the school has developed rigorous and quality STEM instruction to help children master 21st century skills.
Uswatte also has been inducted into the Alabama Teacher Hall of Fame and has served on its selection committee for the past nine years. She also has served on the Teacher of the Year selection committees at the district and state level for the past three years.
She was selected as the Alabama TedEd Educator in 2017 and then as a mentor TedEd Educator in 2018. She is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University and each year hosts more than 20 student teachers at Rocky Ridge.
She has served as president of District 4 of the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools and will be on the group’s board of directors for the next three years, and she is an officer on the executive council for the Alabama Association for Elementary School Administrators.
Though Rocky Ridge has a higher than average percentage of its students from lower-income families, students there are showing steady academic growth under Uswatte’s leadership, Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy said in a nomination letter. The school’s overall score on the state report card has increased from 86 to 89 to 92 over the past three years.
Uswatte stands out among school administrators and is in a league of her own, Murphy said.
Jane Foley, a senior vice president for the Milken Foundation, said in a nomination letter that she has known Uswatte since 2009 and, when touring Rocky Ridge, saw firsthand the depth and breadth of her innovation, leadership and influence on students, staff and the community.
Foley said she has met hundreds of the nation’s top principals, and “Dr. Uswatte is at the very top of school administrators from every perspective — school, district, state and nationally,” Foley wrote. “She represents the best in the American education profession.”
Other finalists to become Alabama’s National Distinguished Principal for 2020 are Bradley Scott at Blossomwood Elementary in Huntsville and Bonnie Sullivan at Wetumpka Elementary in Elmore County.