Educators from Chadwick Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Franklin High and Randallstown High schools are among the nine finalists for the Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Teacher of the Year, Principal of the Year, and Assistant Principal of the Year award.
BCPS will recognize the honorees, chosen from hundreds of nominees, at a special Champions for Children Celebration Gala on April 29 at George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson. The award recipients will be chosen from the respective finalists.
“Be it in the classroom or front office, [the honorees] give their best every day to every student,†said BCPS Superintendent Myriam Rogers in a statement.
We are inspired and impressed by these educators and thankful to them for the expertise they share with us.â€
Teacher of the Year
BCPS officials announced on March 11 the educators in the running for the school system’s Teacher of the Year. The finalists are:
- Alison Benkovic, an English Language Development teacher in Grades 3-5 at Chadwick Elementary School in Windsor Mill and the BCPS Elementary School Teacher of the Year; and
- Renee O’Connell, a Grade 6 mathematics teacher at Cockeysville Middle School in Cockeysville and the BCPS Middle School Teacher of the Year; and
- Catherine Snodderly, a Grade 9 U.S. history teacher at Franklin High School in Reisterstown and BCPS High School Teacher of the Year.
Principal of the Year
Finalists for Principal of the Year are:
- Debita Basu of Hillcrest Elementary School in Catonsville, the BCPS Elementary School Principal of the Year; and
- Adam Carney of Cockeysville Middle School in Cockeysville, the BCPS Middle School Principal of the Year; and
- Michael Jones of Randallstown High School in Randallstown, the BCPS High School Principal of the Year.
Assistant Principal of the Year
Competing for the Assistant Principal of the Year are:
- Brianna Hopkins of Deep Creek Elementary School in Essex, the BCPS Elementary School Assistant Principal of the Year;
- Nathan Davis of Dundalk Middle School in Dundalk, the BCPS Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year; and
- Taylor Ransome of Parkville High School in Parkville, the BCPS High School Assistant Principal of the Year.
The three Teacher of the Year finalists were chosen from among 164 nominees by a committee composed of BCPS administrators, staff, students, TABCO (Teachers Association of Baltimore County) representation, and the current BCPS Teacher of the Year Brittany Jakubowski of Catonsville Middle School.
The finalists will be considered for the 2026-2027 BCPS Teacher of the Year and then go on to represent the school system and its more than 9,500 professional educators in the Maryland Teacher of the Year program.
Principal of the Year finalists were selected from 1,062 nominations and the Assistant Principal of the Year from 716 nominations from a panel that included representatives from BCPS staff, students, families and the community.
Photos: BCPS