4 N.B. principals honoured as some of the best in Canada

Four New Brunswick educators were honoured this week as some of the best principals in Canada.

Forty principals across Canada have been given "Principal of the Year" awards from the Learning Partnership, a national charity dedicated to supporting, promoting and advancing publicly funded education.

This year, four people from New Brunswick were on the list, which recognizes the "unique and vital contributions of principals in publicly funded schools."

Julie Michaud, from Saint Mary's Academy in Edmundston, Heidi Ryder from James M. Hill Memorial High School in Miramichi, Shane Thomas from Fredericton High School, and Bonnie Hierlihy from Fairvale Elementary School in Rothesay all received the award.

"I was very surprised when I received the call but definitely honoured to be recognized by the Learning Partnership," Hierlihy told Information Morning Saint John on Thursday.

She says sheworks to create a school environment that's better for kids, teachers and families.

"I had a few goals when Itook over," Hierlihy said.

"The three big priorities were to create a more welcoming school culture for the families, to build school connectedness and to deepen professional learning communities where we move from teachers seeing children as 'these are my children in my class' to 'these are our children in our school'and how do we best collectively meet their needs."

Another priority that was added recently is to educate the whole childsocially, emotionally and academically. The school has implemented a number of programs and events to embrace the community and drive engagement with families, Hierlihy said.

"Fairvaleis an awesome school ... I lead a great team who work collectively for the students here," she said.

"Although I am the one being acknowledged, I can tell you that this really is a celebration and validation of everything we're doing here to support the students and families at FairvaleElementary."