This award-winning Raleigh educator is NC Charter School Principal of the Year
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- Deborah Brown named North Carolina Charter School Principal of the Year.
- Brown is a 2026 statewide Principal of the Year finalist; winner on May 15.
- At Exploris she restructured leadership and expanded equity and student supports.
A Raleigh educator has been named the top charter school leader in the state and a finalist for North Carolina Principal of the Year.
Deborah Brown was announced by the state Department of Public instruction last week as one of the nine finalists for 2026 North Carolina Principal of the Year. Brown got the distinction after being named North Carolina Charter School Principal of the Year for her work as middle school director at The Exploris School in Raleigh.
“This recognition is a reflection of the incredible teachers, students, and families who make our schools thrive every day,” Brown said in a news release on the school’s website. “I’m grateful for the chance to represent the remarkable commitment and creativity that define public charter education across our state.”
Brown isn’t the only Triangle educator in the running to become the state’s principal of the year. Mariah Walker, the principal of Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Raleigh, was named the finalist from the state’s North Central region.
The 2026 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year will be announced at a ceremony on May 15.
The reigning North Carolina Principal of the year is Jason Johnson of Orange High School.
No charter school leader has won North Carolina Principal of the Year. In 2021, then-State Supt. Catherine Truitt expanded the Principal of the Year program to include a finalist spot for a charter school principal.
Award-winning charter school educator
Brown is the first educator to have been named both the state’s top charter school principal and top charter school teacher. In 2017, Brown was named North Carolina Charter School Teacher of the Year when she was an English teacher at Research Triangle High School in Durham.
She also previously taught in the Wake County school system at Green Hope High School in Cary and Southeast Raleigh High School.
DPI singled out Brown’s work as a pioneer in the use of the “flipped” classroom model in North Carolina. In a flipped classroom, direct teacher lectures are replaced with students working together on projects while their teachers act more as facilitators.
DPI also noted how Brown shook up Exploris when she became the middle school director in 2019. Exploris is a K-8 charter school with campuses in downtown Raleigh.
Brown changed the leadership structure, in her words, “from a ‘throne room’ to a ‘round table’ approach.” Today, the school is overseen by a collaborative, five-person team – including two elected teacher leaders – that is responsible for decision-making.
“Contemporary principals have to be experts not just in student learning, but in adult learning, too, to make sure staff stays inspired, equipped and connected to growth and skill development that can be the rising tide to lift all the educational boats in the school,” Brown said in the DPI news release.
Creating more inclusive charter schools
Charter schools are exempt from some of the rules traditional public schools follow. There are more than 200 charter schools in North Carolina.
Charter schools aren’t required to do things such as provide school transportation or participate in the National School Lunch program. Federal grants over the years have tried to make charter schools more diverse by encouraging them to add more low-income students.
Exploris said Brown’s leadership “has focused on equitable access and student support.” This includes:
- Championing a weighted admissions lottery that gives priority to students from economically disadvantaged families.
- Doubling the school’s Exceptional Children’s Department that works with students with special needs.
- Adding a full-time social work to better support students and parents.
“These efforts have strengthened the school’s inclusive culture and helped ensure that teachers feel supported, students are seen, and the community continues to grow in resilience and care,” according to Exploris.
