The School Buzz: Harrison D2 assistant principal honored with national award

A Harrison D2 assistant principal is being honored with a national award for her leadership in turning around the academic program.

Renee Dahl just won the 2026 National Outstanding Assistant Principal Award for her work at Monterey Elementary School. According to the Colorado Association of School Executives, Dahl has done a tremendous job improving the school's status since she started in 2020, when the school was in turnaround status.

Dahl is credited with implementing a math instructional shift that has led to a 50 percent increase in the average number of students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations in the classroom. 

"We were giving students the opportunity to not just do a problem, but to explain their thinking. And it slowly just grew into this momentum and it's just really exciting to hear," said Dahl.

"Because I love math. It's just really exciting to hear students talk about math and how they're learning," she said.

Under her leadership, Monterey Elementary is now one of the top performing schools in D2.

Is there someone remarkable at your school? Email us! SchoolBuzz@KRDO.com. 

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.