Poplar Bluff Principal named Missouri High School Principal of the Year
FOX23 News at 9 p.m.
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo., (KBSI) — Dr. Valerie Ivy, the first female principal in the history of Poplar Bluff High School, has been named the state’s top high school principal for 2026.
Officials with the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals announced Tuesday that Ivy was selected as the 2026 Dr. Jim L. King High School Principal of the Year. The announcement was made during PB Connect, an internal professional development workshop Ivy helped establish.
Ivy previously was named Principal of the Year for the organization’s Southeast Region and advanced as one of eight finalists statewide, representing more than 1,300 secondary principals in Missouri.
In nomination materials, colleagues, parents and students credited Ivy with expanding academic offerings, promoting inclusivity, strengthening school safety and increasing stakeholder involvement in decision-making.
Ivy is in her ninth year as an administrator at Poplar Bluff High School, where she became principal in 2022. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership from William Woods University and began her career with Poplar Bluff Schools in 2004.
Under Ivy’s leadership, Poplar Bluff High School has expanded dual-enrollment opportunities, introduced new career and technical programs, added Project Lead the Way coursework and earned recognition as a Special Olympics Unified Champions National Banner School. The school also has maintained a graduation rate above 90 percent in recent years, officials said.
Ivy is scheduled to be formally recognized at the MoASSP conference in March and will later be honored in Washington, D.C., alongside principals from across the country as part of the national Principal of the Year program.
