Marion County Principal and Assistant Principal of the year announced

Ginger Cruze

Marion County Public Schools (MCPS) has announced that West Port High School’s Ginger Cruze has been honored as Marion County’s Principal of the Year and Harbour View Elementary School’s Jennifer Pollard has been named Marion County’s Assistant Principal of the Year.

According to a press release, Cruze has worked for the district for 33 years and has served students the last six years as principal at West Port, the district’s largest high school.

Cruze’s supervisor and peers nominated her because of her adaptability to encourage innovation and share her knowledge with others, the release noted.

She has served MCPS students for 18 years, the last seven as assistant principal. Her peers described her as a leader who sees student learning as top priority and shares her knowledge with others.

Pollard helped put systems in place to identify and use staff member expertise to develop targeted professional development for her faculty and staff.

Jennifer Pollard

Both Cruze and Pollard now advance to the state-level competition that names Florida’s principal and assistant principal of the year in a program sponsored by the Florida Department of Education.

Every year, the Florida Department of Education recognizes and honors the contributions of outstanding school administrators, classroom teachers and education support personnel. For more information on that program visit fldoe.org/teaching/recognition/