Dr. Maureen Furr, principal at South Mecklenburg High, has been named the Southwest Region Principal of the Year by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Superintendent Ann Clark announced today.

Furr is one of eight regional winners who will compete for the state’s Wells Fargo Principal of the Year honor.

“It’s exciting to have Maureen Furr as our ambassador representing our principals,” Clark said. “It is a reminder of the great work going on in our district, and South Meck is leading the way.”

Furr was named Principal of the Year for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in October. She was one of 12 district candidates in the Southwest region who were evaluated on their portfolios and interviews by a regional selection committee.

“This is amazing,” Furr said. “I felt really good about the interview, we had fun and shared ideas, then fate just had to take its turn.”

Karol McNeil-Horton, regional education facilitator for DPI, said the selection committee was amazed by Furr’s creative, innovative thinking and how she encourages experimentation and risk-taking.

“She stood apart,” McNeil-Horton said. “She does whatever it takes for her students to be successful.”

Furr joined CMS as a principal in 1992 and opened South Charlotte Middle, where she stayed for 10 years. She opened Jay M. Robinson Middle, staying for four years before moving to South Meck in 2006.

South Meck was one of the top four schools in North Carolina last year for student academic growth. With almost 3,000 students, it had the largest high school enrollment in the state last year.

CMS has had two other finalists in the past 10 years. Steve Hall won the Southwest region in 2009, while Marian Yates, also a principal at South Meck, won the region and state Principal of the Year awards in 2006.

The Wells Fargo Principal of the Year winner will be announced in May.