2024-2025 JCPS Principal of the Year Melissa Hurst Changes Lives Through Education

Hurst has been a professional educator for 25 years, with nine years in an administrative role. During her career, she has been a dedicated servant leader in many capacities, including teacher, instructional coach, coordinator, senior administrator of a middle school Language Arts program, assistant principal, principal, and a host of other educational roles within the school and community.

A former North Carolina Teaching Fellow (1994-1998), 2021 North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association Distinguished Leadership in Practice participant, and National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Certification recipient (2005, 2015), she understands the importance of professional development, peer engagement, shared thoughts, and collaborative approaches to education.

One reason Ms.Hurst is an award-winning administrator is her guiding principles. One of those principles is to lead with empathy. She has always been empathetic and has found that putting herself in others' shoes helps her to be a better leader. “Throughout my career, I have learned that education is an intensely human business,” she remarked. “We are in the business of people.”

For the last six years, she has called Princeton Elementary home. In the beginning she was not sure if she was cut out for that population, because she had spent the last 10 years in a high school setting. “One of the biggest adjustments was how small they were,” Hurst laughed. But she found their boundless energy and wild-eyed wonder of the world inspiring.

During the 2023-2024 school year, Hurst led Princeton Elementary to improve their School Performance Grade from a letter grade of C (58) to a letter grade of B (71), ranked in the top 15% in North Carolina for academic growth, and exceeded growth for the third consecutive year. As the principal of Princeton Elementary, the school’s performance composite increased from 53.1% to 64.6%

She and her team leaned into the district-wide goal for all 48 schools to have a letter grade of A, B, or C by 2024. That goal was challenged during the pandemic, but everyone was united behind a shared vision that brought them closer together. “As a leader, my primary goal is to focus on people,” she said. Hurst listened to and trusted her team as professionals, giving them the resources necessary to continue providing the students of Princeton Elementary with a quality education.

Hurst’s leadership ability and success at Princeton Elementary were key factors in the district’s decision to move her to Corinth Holders High, the largest comprehensive high school in JCPS serving nearly 2,300 students.

The transition was bittersweet for Hurst as she would be required to leave the community she had helped build for many years, however, she knew she would be welcomed into a great community and a school of excellence. 

During the 2023-2024 school year, Corinth Holders High exceeded growth, which came as no surprise to Hurst. “We have some talented teachers, bright students, engaged families, a beautiful facility, and strong district support,” she said. 

She plans to build on the school’s success by continuing to listen to her teachers, provide resources, collaboratively remove barriers to education, and provide them with adequate planning time. Hurst knows firsthand that the results will follow. “All of the ingredients are here for this school to move forward and be top performing in the state,” she said.

One of Hurst’s most valuable attributes is her ability to develop an environment conducive to academic excellence and achievement. “It is our main goal as educators,” she said. The impact she has made on Princeton Elementary is historical and truly commendable. 

Hurst understands the importance of individual relationships within a community, even in a school of that size. Being responsive to one email, one phone call, and one conversation at a time is a crucial ingredient in Hurst’s recipe for building relationships with students and families. She fully believes that, “Stuff can wait, people can’t.”

Being visible and being present are keys to success when it comes to building relationships. Hurst makes it a priority to attend school events and enjoys family nights because they are valuable opportunities to speak one-on-one with parents and students. 

Hurst loves being in the hallways during class changes saying hello, learning students' names, and some of their interests. Creating a culture of kindness is the common denominator for all educators, but especially in high school. “High school kids are craving a connection and craving a sense of belonging,” she said. 

She is a big believer that people rise to high expectations, not low ones. She and her team create high expectations to prepare students with the communication skills and work ethic needed to be successful. “It’s a powerful time in their lives that we get to experience with them,” she remarked. Hurst thinks of every child like they are her own and as they begin thinking about their futures, she knows that a quality education empowers them for life-long success.

As a first generation college graduate, her parents were her motivators. They knew the power of education to transform lives and ensured that Hurst pursued education excellence. “There was never any other option,” she recalled. 

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from North Carolina State University, and licensure in K-12 School Administration from UNC at Chapel Hill. Hurst prides herself on being a life-long learner and is an advocate of continued education. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership.

As a 25-year veteran in education, Hurst knows there is still a lot to learn and to contribute to making JCPS and Corinth Holders High the best in the state. “I believe that part of my success as a leader is that I recognize I don’t know everything, and collectively operating as a community always brings you to a better place than being on one’s own,” she said.

Humbled that her peers nominated her for 2024-2025 Principal of the Year Award, Hurst said, “I hope that they see that I love, love, love, what I do.”