Miami-Dade Public Schools announces 2025 principal, assistant principal of the year

Miami-Dade Public Schools has chosen its Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year for 2025.

Leer en español

Walter C. Hall, from Leisure City K-8 Center, won the District’s Principal of the Year.

According to the District, Hall has been an educator at M-DCPS for two decades.

Hall recently won the 2025 Florida Taxwatch Principal Leadership Award, recognizing him as one of the state’s 15 most successful principals from high-risk K-12 schools, based on school data and the interaction with students and the community.

Melissa M. Miller of Frederick Douglass Elementary School was recognized as Assistant Principal of the Year.

According to the District, Miller has been an educator for 14 years. Miller was a teacher and reading coach for eight years before becoming assistant principal at Shadowlawn Elementary School for two years. In 2021, she became an assistant principal at Frederick Douglass Elementary School.

Tiffany C. James from Dr. Frederica S. Wilson/Skyway Elementary School won Principal of the Year Runner-up, and Tiffany Hayes, Norland Middle School, won Assistant Principal of the Year Runner-up.

The Principal of the Year winner will receive a $2,000 cash prize and a three-year lease on a car sponsored by Headquarter Toyota. The Assistant Principal of the Year will receive a $1,500 cash prize and a three-to-five-day cruise with an ocean view stateroom courtesy of Royal Caribbean Group.

The announcement was made at the Dade Association of School Administrators’ (DASA) Annual Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 17th at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Miami.